Keith and Pidge: Our Little Slice of Life
by FatesDescendent
Summary: Well the original plan was to have this be a one-shot, but after 27 I still wanted to write this story even more, so instead of possibly making one 50 page story I decided to make this a story with multiple chapters. As more chapters get uploaded I will redo this summary to give a better feel for the story.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: This is one of three one-shots based on the ABSOLUTELY AMAZING Voltron Legendary Defender. As you all know I am more of a "slice of life" style of story author, so in the third one I am going to try and branch away from that and actually write a story that may resemble something akin to "cannon" but not in this one (and the next one?)! I AM GOING TO SLICE OF LIFE IT UP! Also one more thing as of the start of my writing this I am only just done with season 5 after taking a break from the series for a while, so I am more than likely going to get some facts wrong, but hey that's why its fanfiction right? Anyways hope you enjoy these up-coming stories and if they get a decent enough reception I will take a break from Sonic (please give me good reception! Lol) and do Voltron (by making them full-blown stories and not one shots) and maybe even more fandoms like Marvel, DC, games, etc., anyways without further ado on with the story!**

 **And yes it's a Kidge story, yes I know it's a somewhat cringy ship but y'know what? I like this ship and so I shall write a story of said ship if I so please!**

 **Keith and Pidge: Our Little Slice of Life**

Keith Kogane, most would call him a loner. Others the coolest guy around. His closest friend and neighbor? She calls him emo. When in public he tries to play aloof to keep his reputation, but when it is just her? He likes to protest extravagantly, mainly to just get her to smile. _God that smile._ He thought to himself as he laid in his pool.

 _Why do you have to have such a beautiful smile?_ he shook the thoughts from his head. Sure he thought she was pretty, but he also knew that she was not a girl who thought of boys… at least in the romantic sense. The two spent many nights outside of their red and green houses just talking. Nothing in particular, just talking about life. One night, not too long ago, they managed to work their way to talking about people they were crushing on. Obviously Keith, in his lone wolf ways, lied saying he wasn't crushing on anyone. But he felt himself get excited and his heart jump for a split-second when he asked her the same question.

"No one. I don't even plan to consider dating until after high school. At the minimum." She said flatly.

 _Katie…_ "Like a shit ton of bricks you crushed my heart." He spoke to himself floating in the pool trying to tan a little.

"What?! You feel emotions and aren't just a cold robot?" a girl laughed from the other side of the fence.

"What the-!" he shouted as he flipped over face first into the pool "Pidge, WHAT THE HELL?"

"What?" Pidge asked innocently as she pretended as though she did no wrong.

"You can't just sneak up on people when they're practically half-asleep!"

"Hey! By all rights and definitions I did not sneak up on you. I am clearly seven and a half meters away on my side of the fence." She said smugly, always the specific when it came to calculations.

"Yeah, whatever!" Keith laughed as he climbed back on his floaty "How are you even looking over said fence? Last I checked your hair could barely be seen over it." He laughed.

"Hey no short jokes, we already agreed to that when burning each other! And if you must know… I'm standing on a box…" she said that last part meekly.

"HA!" was all Keith gave as a reply.

"Enough about me, why did you just say what could one day be the name and chorus of the worst country song ever?" Pidge pondered as she climbed over the fence and sat at the edge of the pool, dipping her feet in.

"No idea what you are talking about." He said as he blankly stared at the sky, turning his gaze for a moment to see she was wearing a nightgown type of clothing with what looked like her own swimsuit underneath, he laughed turning his head back up at the thought of just yanking her into the pool to surprise her.

"Oh really?" she asked raising her eyebrow, ready to make fun of him "This doesn't remind you of anything? 'Like a shit ton of bricks you crushed my heart' haha" she laughed as she 'sang' the words in a mocking way.

"Nope." Keith said as he rolled over willingly, keeping himself afloat as he groaned making bubbles come up.

Worrying about his safety, and to a little extent him dying with important data, she found a rock and threw it at his head to make him come up for air. "Ow. Pidge!?"

"You aren't drowning yourself, I want info now."

"Come on, you only brought me up cause you love me." After realizing what he said he stuck himself under water and groaned for a second.

Pidge blushed and smiled for a second "Seriously, what is bugging you? We may both have been single our whole lives but I can still help you if needed. Probably at least." She said with a knowing look hoping one of her best friends would open up to her. "I can beat them up! You know how strong I am!"

Keith raised his head and chuckled for a second "No thanks."

"Okay, I didn't want to have to do this but you leave me no choice. Over the years I have built up a series of plans to enact if any of my friends ever shut us out. Like Batman with the Justice League, only a lot less deadly."

This garnered Keith's attention, he could never resist a good reference, especially if it was comic books or anime references. "What kind of plans?"

Pidge grew a smug expression on her face "Like you for example, I have three specifically for you, one of which cannot be done to its full extent because you brother is currently on a trip with my brother and my dad. But I can still use it and two more." She said as she brought out her phone and dialed Shiros number and pushed a big button saying 'video chat'.

"KATIE DON'T YOU DARE CALL HIM!" Keith yelled as he tried running through the pool to catch her, but it was too difficult and she managed to hop back over the fence phone still in hand.

"Hello?" a male voice said from the other in of the call "Pidge that you?"

"Hey Shiro! What's up?" Pidge asked sweetly, all the while Keith could be heard yelling in protest as he tried to get out of the pool in time.

"Katie, what is that?" Shiro asked.

"Just a sec, gotta turn on the electric fence to keep your brother from getting into my yard." She spoke calmly as she walked over and flipped a switch.

"Ow! Mother of all that is-!" Keith screamed as he fell back on his side of the fence from the shock.

"Anywho~" Pidge laughed nervously as she turned back to face Shiro.

"Gotta talk fast Katie, about to lose contact." "Hey is that my sis? I wanna talk." "Stop it Matt she called me for something that I am sure is important, right?"

"Oh yeah, super important! Your brother has his first crush and is being all mopey about it because she broke his heart somehow." "KAITLIN HOLT I WILL HAVE MY REVENGE!" Keith shouted from the background.

Shiro and Matt just looked at each other from the other side of the screen, laughing knowing everything. "Trust me Pidge he has had a crush for a while." Shiro stated "Yeah everyone knows!" Matt chimed in.

"UTTER ONE MORE WORD AND I'LL KILL THE BOTH OF YOU!"

"SHUT UP EMO! Anyways more details needed please, he won't say a word." She said with a pout.

"Sorry Kat- you'r- br-kin –p" Shiro said as they lost contact with each other.

"Damnit.. stupid pine-apple and their dang partnership with CT&C" she complained as she shook her device up and down.

"HA! Still left in the dark!" Keith said as he hung from a tree branch that just barely missed the fence.

"Not true, I'll call Allura. That wasn't part of my original plan but APPARENTLY everyone knows but me!" she said as she ran through her back door into her house.

"Oh no you don't you little-! Damnit!" Keith pouted as he realized he was now stuck over on her side of the fence, soaking wet, with no towel or change of clothes. "At least let me go through your house so I can get home!"

"After I call Allura, then I will let you in. Can't do so beforehand because you will impede my progress."

"Come on Pidge! You're the smartest girl I know, it's not like I will 'Impede your progress' by much." He said putting that part in air quotations.

"Should've thought of that before trespassing." She smiled. _Damn beautiful smile_.

After a few moments of shaking and shivering had passed Keith realized that there was now a towel on his head. "All the sympathy you get." Pidge said as she closed the upstairs window.

"Allura? You know how you used to tease Keith and I saying Keith would be my perfect husband? Yeah well now I want to go out with him and he is currently moping around cause some girl broke his heart!"

"Calm down" Allura said with her elegant accent "Put me on video chat." Pidge followed the command "Okay, now from the top! What is going on?"

"Like I said. Keith like other girl. I like Keith. Other girl make Keith sad. I sad because of this." She explained in broken English.

"Okay… do you know this other girls name?" Allura asked.

"No! The fool won't tell me anything! Not even a little, teensy tiny, detail."

The white-haired, dark-skinned girl chuckled at the turn of events, having just last week a similar conversation with Keith. "Here's what you are going to do."

* * *

Forty minutes or so passed and Keith had finally dried off, having decided to go back to his tanning session, when suddenly the sun was not shining in his eyes anymore "Get dressed. We're going for food, don't even bother trying to get out of it." Pidge said as she threw a pile of clothes on top of him.

"Did you go in my room? Is this my underwear?!"

"Keith, please. I caught you skinny-dipping in your pool when you were half-drunk once. Underwear is nothing."

Keith's face practically turned as red as his house "You caught me doing that?"

"Nope." Pidge smiled as she went inside "But thanks for telling me you did. By the way, don't worry, underwear doesn't bother me I grew up with Matt." she told him as she walked in leaving the door open for him to follow.

Keith knew his way around the place enough and walked into the hall bathroom to change and get dressed.

"Katie, you ready to head out?" he asked as he approached her bedroom door.

"Don't you dare come in here, Kogane! I am not dressed yet!" she shouted from the other side of the door.

Keith stiffened as he turned around to walk back to the living room, leaving her to peacefully get dressed.

"Okay, ready?" she asked as she rounded the corner, and in this moment Keith could feel his heartrate skyrocket as he laid eyes on her. She wasn't extravagantly dressed or anything, she was always more of a tomboy so she never did, but the outfit made her look amazing in his eyes. A simple green and white top, black cargo shorts and her glasses all fit her perfectly to him.

Pidge caught his reaction and smiled _Maybe I can still make him mine…_ "I ask again, ready?"

"Um, yeah let's go."

"Good. You're driving Red." Pidge smirked as she walked out her front door. "I still can't believe you named your car 'Red'." She laughed as she locked the door behind her and Keith.

"What are you talking about?" Keith asked aghast "You literally call your scooter different names like 'Green Girl' and 'Greeny'!"

"Hey, at least she has a two-parter name. Not just one." She laughed as they walked to the car belonging Keith.

"" Keith opened his mouth then closed it knowing he could not win against her. She was the most stubborn girl he knew. But he liked that. She smirked knowing that she won as she opened the passenger door.

Hours passed as the two drove around town, laughing and having fun. The fun almost ended when Pidge hit one of Keith's arms making him almost swerve into another oncoming vehicle. After the heart attacks passed the two stared at each other and laughed once again as the adrenaline kicked in.

"Holy crap! Did you see that guys face when he was honking is horn? He looked like his head was going to pop!" Keith laughed pulling over to the side of the road.

"Yeah! Was that his natural skin color or was he purple from the screaming?"

"I have no clue, you can't tell ever since the Galra immigrated here."

"Yeah, hehe" Pidge finished laughing as she finally calmed down "Despite you nearly killing us-"

"YOU nearly killing us" Keith cut in

"Despite us nearly dying, I really had fun today. Like really, I loved it. It seems like we haven't been able to hang out as much here lately. You seem to be getting more distant, but again, this was amazing."

"Stuff has just been going on lately, I hadn't even realized that I was seeming distant. But I completely agree with you, today was really fun. We are definitely doing this again."

"My, my, are you asking me out on a date Keith?" Pidge teased, eyeing him curiously as she got closer to him in the already small car.

"Well, um- I…" he said nervously as he blushed, looking away from her.

She was loving his reaction finding it hilarious "Relax, I am just teasing." She said as she sat back in her seat. "Want some ice cream and then head back home? I need to run some programs before the day is over."

"Yeah, ice cream sounds great right about now." Keith said fondly as he put his car in drive and went back on their way.

* * *

"So let me see if I fully understand this" Pidge spoke as she was reentering the car after their stop "You love chocolate in all forms, candy, pudding, etcetera… but you hate chocolate ice cream? How?!"

"Hey you have no right to question my eating habits little miss "I hate peanuts but love peanut butter and peanut butter cookies"." Keith mocked as he too entered the car. "I just absolutely hate chocolate ice cream, I can't explain it." **(A/N: Fun Fact, this is my actual opinion on chocolate and chocolate ice cream)**

"At least I have a reason for hating peanuts! They're so dry! You can't even give an excuse." Pidge finished as she felt her phone vibrate in her pocket "Oh hey mom! I know I'm supposed to be home, but Keith and I went out for a late lunch and ice cream. Wait what's going on? O-okay, we'll be home soon…"

Keith turned to face her, concern written all over his face "What's going on?... Katie, Pidge?"

"There's been an accident with the trip with my dad, Matt and Shiro…." She spoke as her eyes started watering "Dads missing and Shiro and Matt are trapped and hurt. Keith we have to get back home now!"

Keith floored it as soon as he heard everything he needed, making sure to get there as safely and as quickly as possible, he made it in about one-third of the time that would normally take.

"Mom!"  
"Colleen?"

"Kids? Hurry in I'm on the phone with the officer leading the search." Collen informed the pair as they walked in "They have a lead on where your father might be, and Matt isn't too injured just a minor concussion and large cut on his face."

"What about Shiro is he okay?" Keith asked his voice cracking, Colleen only looked at him with sad eyes "Colleen, please tell me he's okay! He's the only family I have, I need him to be okay!"

"Keith…" Colleen started "He's been pinned down by a large tree that fell over. It has completely crushed his arm. And… he is also unconscious apparently a lot of debris fell on top of his head, cut him up pretty bad too like Matt."

Keith stood there shocked his purple colored eyes wide "No" he whispered "No he has to be okay!" he yelled as he ran out of the house and to his car, driving off.

"Keith?"  
"Keith!"

The two Holt women said as he ran out, Pidge followed as she saw him drive off at incredible speed, leaving skid marks on the road "Keith!" she shouted as she dropped to the ground watching the lights from his car get smaller and smaller.

"Let's hope Hunk knew what he was talking about when we fixed her up!" she said as she ran into her garage and pulled the dust cover off her 'scooter' at this point it was more of a crotch-rocket motorcycle with the body of a scooter. She threw on her riding gear which was a white and green trimmed armor-esque suit. This riding gear was built to take heavy impacts that could break bones and tear up normal riding gear. After putting her helmet on she sped off in the same direction as Keith went.

"Come on, come on…" she growled under her breath, she looked down to see a green button, "Good a time as any to test out your boost, eh girl?" she asked as she pushed the button in question "Woaoooohhhh! Holy cr-" she screamed as she went far faster than she could've expected. "Hey! I think that's him." The green-clad girl said regaining her composure.

She activated her Bluetooth in her helmet to call Keith. "Pick up. Pick up!"

"Hello?"

"Keith! Thank God you haven't killed yourself or anyone else, slow down I'm almost to you."

"What do you mean?"

"I'm on Green, Hunk and I suped her up. Now slow down before you kill yourself!"

"Katie! Do you have any idea how dangerous it is to be going that fast on that thing!?" Keith shouted into her ear.

"SHUT UP! Okay now pull over! I can feel it starting to rain on me, and neither of us should be driving like this. Especially in a storm." Pidge spoke as she slowed down, seeing Keiths brake lights come on she drove up to him.

"Hey…" she said as she took her helmet off, her short her flowing as freely as it could "Wanna talk?"

"About what?" he asked as he got out of the car "About the fact that the man who raised me since my dad died, the man who is both a father and brother to me, is currently trapped underneath a giant tree unconscious and bleeding?!" Keith snapped at her.

She was taken aback by this, but she knew that it was just because that he was feeling stressed and worried about Shiro, and she quickly regained her composure. "Keith… they are doing everything they can to get him, my dad and Matt out of there, before I left my mom said that Matt told them he won't even leave Shiro's side until they get him out."

"Katie…" Keith said almost in a whisper, as he broke down and hugged her as the rain started pouring on them "I can't lose him too." He said, hugging her tighter.

"I know" she whispered back, hugging him just as much "and you won't lose him I promise." she said as she backed away a little and cupped his face "I promise."

"Thank you" Keith said as he hugged her once more, finally the mood calming a bit "You know, you look really good in that suit."

Pidge felt the heat rise in her cheeks, "Thank you, it took forever to make and the tights get a little uncomfortable… then again this is the first time I actually put it into use."

"How about you tell me all about it when we get back home, your mother is probably worried sick."

"Yeah, pop your trunk for me? Using the boosters on her really did a number on the engines." Pidge asked as she went to lift up her scooter.

"Can you really lift that? It must way a couple hundred pounds." Keith asked, his jaw dropping in surprise as she actually picked it up after a moment of struggling. "How?!" he asked incredulously.

"I replaced almost every ounce of metal I could with the same material as what I made this suit from. Far stronger than the metal it came with and about a thousand time lighter too. Only real weight is the engine, the booster engines, and the fuel tank." Pidge spoke nonchalantly as she closed the trunk.

"Okay, you are definitely telling me all about this later." He said shaking his head as the two got back in the car and drove off slowly in the rain. After a small moment the two found themselves holding hands without intending it, but neither complained, it just felt so right as they went down the road. When Keith pulled up into the Holt residences driveway he and Pidge noticed Colleen siting on the porch noticeably worried.

"We are either getting screamed at or a major hug from her." Pidge said nervously.

"I'm tempted to just let you out and pull into my house. You know, spare myself from her wrath." Keith smiled as he reluctantly let go of her hand.

"Yeah no. I can't leave you alone right now. You are staying here and that's final." She said firmly as she got out of the car running to get under the cover of the porch to get out of the rain. Keith could see the two Holt women talk rather heatedly about something, before they hugged each other. He smiled seeing how happy the two were, he broke out of his train of thought when Pidge and her mom both called him over.

"Keith are you okay? You left me worried sick with how you drove away…" Collen asked as she hugged him "Come in and lay on the couch for a bit, oh I better get some of Matt's or Sam's clothes for you so you can get out of these soaked ones." She told him as they ushered him into the house and towards the bathroom.

"This is really unnecessary, Colleen. I can manage a little bit of wet clothes." Keith urged her not wanting to take the other men's clothes.

"You may not be my child, but I will still hit you with a wooden spoon." She threatened him as she threw him into the bathroom. "You're not coming back into the living room until you have dry clothes on."

"Yes ma'am." He groaned, hearing Pidge laugh he smiled as he undressed and dried off with a towel waiting for Colleen to come back with the new attire.

"Here you go, clothes are sitting outside the door."

"Thank you."

* * *

"I ain't going to lie, it feels good to be in warm clothes." Keith smiled as he inhaled deeply and crashed on the couch.

Pidge smirked as she ran her fingers through his now somewhat dry hair "You know what they say 'Mothers know best'." She said in a mocking tone.

"Ha ha, not really. Orphan, remember?" he said nonchalantly as he pointed to himself.

"How can you say that so calmly?" she asked aghast

"I don't know."

"Seriously, if I were you and went through all your troubles, I would cry every day. You are seriously the strongest guy I know." Pidge told him, and he could tell from the tone in her voice, that she was sincere, more sincere than anyone he has ever heard.

"Pidge… thank you."

"You're welcome." She smiled back at him as she laid her hand on his forehead from running through his hair. "You're burning up."

"Oh?" he asked feeling his cheek "I don't feel like it."

"You never could tell when you were sick, remember back in school when you would be throwing up and the teachers would have to force you to leave by calling Shiro, because you wouldn't leave on your own?" Pidge laughed fondly.

"I don't get sick. I just merely expel the toxins in my body in a way that looks like I am sick."

"Okay, sure." She rolled her eyes at him as she continued to feel his cheeks and forehead some more "Seriously you really don't feel too good, I'll be right back I am going to get you some soup or something."

Keith was feeling reluctant as she walked away and he found himself feeling the same places her hand was resting on his cheek, for the next three and half minutes he just sat there.

"Here you go. A nice steaming bowl of 'Pidges Famous Ramen Noodles' enjoy at your pleasure. Oh and by the way…" she started as he began eating the noodles "My mom said they finally got both Matt and Shiro out."

Keith nearly choked as he coughed up some of the noodles "Really?! Let's go!" He shouted as he stood up and Pidge instantly threw him back down, much to his surprise. "How are you this strong and why throw me back down?"

"I work out and two, you aren't going anywhere because you are sick and they need to get him stabilized, and finally it is still storming and you aren't driving right now." She smirked in satisfaction as he just started eating again, after seeing that he was not going to try to push the subject on, she went back to running her fingers through his hair again.

"You having fun there?" Keith teased as he side eyed her.

She felt her face flush but quickly regained her composure "Actually, yes. This is quite relaxing and studies show that-"

"It's okay Pidge, I don't need the full details. But don't stop, I am actually enjoying it too."

"Good, because I wasn't planning on stopping anyways." She laughed.

"Y'know…" he yawned "I think I'm…gonna" he said as he yawned one more time as he drifted asleep.

Pidge smiled to herself as she watched his consciousness start to slip away, "Goodnight."

* * *

Colleen walked into the living room after and saw her daughter and Keith asleep on the couch, smiling she gently put a blanket on the two of them, trying not to wake them up. "Hm, Mom?" Pidge asked.

"Oh, sorry sweety, I didn't mean to wake you up." Collen whispered.

"It's fine mom. What time is it? How long have we been asleep?"

"Oh, a couple of hours maybe. Its's almost ten o'clock or so."

"Mkay, thanks. What were you about to do? You look like you're getting ready for something."

"Well, I was going to sneak off to the hospital, they have Shiro stabilized, and Matthew is recovering very well."

"That's good… Mom?"

"Yes?"

"I'm worried to ask, but how is Shiro? Is he okay? Please tell me he is, for Keiths sake."

"I don't know Katie, I'll call when I get there with any updates I get. Love you." Colleen said as she walked out the door.

"Ssooo, what to do now Pidge? Crush asleep, and your scooters engines are burnt at the moment… okay, fix engines first, wake up crush second."

And with that she went outside to get Green and carried her back into her garage to fix her up. "Now where are the schematics Hunk and I made up?" she said anxiously as she turned her work area upside down." After searching by herself for a while she came up with another plan "Okay, wake up crush first, work on engines _together_ second."

Pidge walked in saw Keith sleeping peacefully, first she made sure he wasn't still burning up from his fever earlier, noticing he was much better off now than before "Keith… Keith… Wake up."

"Hm? Yeah?" he asked confused "Pidge? Oh man I forgot I fell asleep at your house. Is the storm over?"

"Yeah, the storm is over." She said smiling at him.

"Mhm, okay." He groaned as he got up, he accidently bumped his mouth into Pidge's. _Well shit…_ Keith thought as he felt a hand come across his face.

"What the fffuu- hhhe- watch where you're going dumbass!" she yelled at him, blushing crazily.

"Ow! Pidge!" he shouted as he rubbed the spot on his cheek where she slapped him.

"Sorry! But you are the idiot who kissed me!"

"Hey, I ain't complaining." He smiled, hoping she may get stumped by the hint he gave.

"Wait, what?" _Success, yes._ He mentally patted himself on the back.

"Oh, nothing." Keith smirked.

"Don't you dare Kogane, I will slap that smirk right off your face!"

"You're so cute when you're angry." He laughed as he ran past her outside into the dark.

"You get your ass back here!" Pidge shouted as she ran after him "You may be faster but you suck at hiding Keith!"

"Doesn't matter" he said as he ran around the corner to the backyard "Y'know why?"

"Wh- wait don't climb the fence!" she shouted. It sounded like concern but Keith thought she may be trying to trick him.

He placed both hands on the fence to get over "AAAHHRGG!" he screamed as the fence electrocuted him, and he flew backwards,

"Keith! Oh my god! Are you okay?" Pidge screamed as she ran up to him "My god, if you die I'm going to kill you." She said hugging him tightly.

"See? Haha" he laughed quietly "I knew you loved me. Haha" he finished laughing.

"You idiot. Fine yes." She laughed, not caring that she basically confessed she loved him "Yes, I love you."

"You know? I've wanted to hear that from you for a long time now, but can we agree that this is a very cliché and yet still anti-climactic way for us to finally get together?"

"Agreed, you being on the ground after being electrocuted, looking like you can die as we confess to each other like characters in every movie ever, is very cliché." She kept laughing, hugging him tighter.

"Kaitlin Holt" he started as he broke the hug and placed his hand on the back of her head "I love you. Aaannnddd cliché finished." Keith finished as he pulled her in and kissed her again. "I have been waiting years for that."

"Quite honestly, I've been waiting a while myself." She laughed as she pulled him up, "Come on let's get inside. Better hurry before mom gets back. She might think we're doing something far worse than poorly kissing each other." Pidge laughed as they walked inside.

"Yeaaah, well it's not like either of us had any practice."

"True, but hopefully that can change in the near future, in the meantime" she hopped in front of him and got on her tip-toes "there's a reason I woke you up so follow me into the garage and help me work."

Keith followed her inside the garage, seeing that she already got her 'scooter' out and set up in the middle of the workspace "What do you need?"

"First, help me find the blue-prints for the booster engines, I need to go ever them since they turned out to be a one use trick." And with the task she asked of him he helped her look around for it.

"So…" Keith started as he shifted boxes around.

"Yeah?"

"What are we going to do about us? He asked.

"What do you mean?"

"Like, are we going to tell everyone, or wait and see if they catch on to us, or only tell a few people?" Keith continued to look around as he saw something sticking off the edge of a high shelf. "Think I might have found it." He told her as he reached for the rolled up paper.

"Well, I mean unless you can think of a reason not to, I say we just tell everyone. It's not like Matt, Shiro, Allura and Hunk haven't been planning our wedding forever."

"Haha yeah, specifically Matt and Hunk." Keith laughed as he handed her the blue-prints "Here you go, and so I guess as soon as Colleen gets back we can tell her first. Where did she go?"

Pidge considered not actually telling him, knowing that he would go to the hospital at unreasonable speeds, but she didn't want to start off her first relationship with a lie "Well, she went to the hospital to check on Matt and Shiro."

"Wait?! They got Shiro stabilized?" Keith got excited but he quickly calmed down. "Okay, let's finish this and then check on them, sound good?"

"Sounds great." she smiled as she looked over the schematics, trying to see where she and Hunk went wrong.

"Any idea what went wrong?"

"Yeah, I think I see where he and I messed up, honestly from the looks of this, I'm lucky it didn't blow up like a bomb!"

"My god Pidge! You basically rode a bomb?!" Keith screamed in worry.

"Hey, what's science without risk? Can you lift it up while I try to fix the engine?" she asked as she crawled underneath to undo the all the bits and pieces there to connect to the engine to the base frame.

The two worked for next couple hours, having fun with each other, Pidge decided to dump an old can filled with some oil on Keith much to his dismay, and he decided to hug her.

"Ah, Keith!" she screamed as she too got covered in the oil.

"Hm? Sorry can't see you complaining" he laughed as he blew some oil dripping from his hair to his mouth "How about this?" he asked as he kissed her covering her face in oil.

"Ergh, KEITH!" she yelled, her eyes growing wide before she smiled.

"Hey, you started I just took advantage of the situation."

"I guess fair is fair. I think that's enough work, how about we cleanup and call my mom and check-in on Shiro and Matt?"

"That sounds great, Pidge." Keith said as the two walked back in from the garage.

"Go ahead and cleanup first, and I'll get your other clothes from the laundry room." Pidge told him.

"Oh, you are two kind m'lady." He told her playfully.

As Pidge was walking back with Keiths clothes, she heard the house phone go off "Hello?"

"Katie? Sweety, is Keith around you?" Colleen asked, worry in her tone.

"No, he's washing up, we kinda got oil all over ourselves fixing up Green." Pidge chuckled nervously "Why, what's going on?"

"I feel like this is a message that he needs to hear in person, will you tell him that you two can come to the hospital to visit and check-up on Shiro and your brother?"

"Yeah, I'll wash-up after him and we'll head right that way."

"Okay, stay safe, the storm maybe over but the roads are still slick." Colleen warned.

"Will do mom."

As soon as she hung up Pidge was startled by seeing Keith, half naked with a towel wrapped around him, right behind her "Holy sshh- KEITH!" she screamed slapping him on his chest leaving a red hand-print "If you want to stay in a relationship. You best stop giving me heart attacks!"

"Ow! Sorry! You were on the phone was I supposed to interrupt?" he asked rubbing the hand-print.

"Sorry about that…" she said as she too started rubbing the mark on his chest "I didn't mean to hit you that hard." She said quietly, tracing the mark.

Then it dawned on the two of them just what kind of a situation they were in.

"Um… Katie…?"

"I know, Keith."

"What happens now?" the raven haired boy asked

"I am going to slowly walk away and shower, then we are going to go to the hospital and not say a word of this to Shiro, Matt, or mom." Replied the short brunette girl.

"Got it."

And with that Pidge bit her lip, and walked away into the bathroom, and Keith walked into Matts room to properly change his mind flashing a thought of Pidge "No. No, no, no. Not here, especially not now, I know what's happening and it will cease." Keith spoke to himself in the empty room.

About twenty an some odd minutes later, Pidge finally walked out of the bathroom, fully clothed unlike her new boyfriend, and walked into the living room where he was waiting "Ready to go?" she asked.

"Yeah" he replied "can't wait to make sure Shiro and Matt are recovering well." He said as the two walked out to Red and drove off.

* * *

"Keith?"

"Yeah?" he replied.

"When we go in, just remember to stay calm. Shiro and Matt don't need more stress at this time."

"I know Pidge, believe me, I can keep my cool now." He told her giving her hand a light squeeze as they walked out and into the hospital.

"Hello, can I help you find who you're looking for?" the receptionist asked.

"We're looking for Takashi Shirogane and Matthew Holt."

"Relationship please?"

"Shirogane is my legal guardian, and she is Matt Holt is her older brother." Keith explained to her.

"Okay, it seems the two are in room S-1984, please for the sake of them and other patients keep your voices down as you approach."

"Will do ma'am, thank you." Pidge said to her as the two walked down the hall passing doctors, nurses and patients. "Here we go, think we should just tell Matt and Shiro along with my mom or just her?"

"We'll see if they can piece it together." He said as he grabbed her hand and opened the door "Hello? Colleen? Matt? Shiro?" he called out as they entered.

"Keith, Pidge you made it!" Matt said rather loud.

"Calm down Matt, you'll rip out your stitches." Colleen said as she placed a hand on the bandage on Matts face "Just because they gave you an anesthetic for the pain now, doesn't mean it'll last forever."

"Yes, Mom." The slightly drugged Matt said with a hint of condescension.

Keith and Pidge smiled as she went to go check on her older brother. Keith walked to the end of the room and got ready to pull open the curtain to check in on Shiro. But as he pulled it back he saw the bed was empty.

"Shiro?" he whispered "Colleen, where is Shiro?" he turned around facing the older woman.

"He's… they are performing surgery on his arm. They don't know if they will be able to save it, but he wanted you here as soon as he gets out of there so he can see you."

Pidge went and gave him a light hug "How long have they been in there?"

"Oh, a couple of hours maybe." Matt chimed in.

"Mom, why did they drug him up that much? Usually he would be a lot more anxious about the amount of time they've been performing surgery."

"Because he was fighting tooth and nail to go with Shiro into the operating room. This was the only way they could get him placid enough to not fight them on everything they said."

"Thanks for watching after Shiro for me, Matt." Keith told him, giving Matt a hug.

"I wish I could've done better."

"Hey, from what you're mom told me, you wouldn't leave his side at all. You risked your life to make sure he stayed safe too. You did all you could. Thank you for taking care of the man who raised me."

Matt smiled "Thank you, now when are you going to ask my sister out?" he laughed causing the two to stiffen up.

"Well," "Um, actually…" Pidge and Keith said at the same time.

"Wait- I was joking! When did you- how much time has passed!"

"I'd like some information too." Colleen said smirking.

"Well, heheh" Pidge chuckled "it kinda started when I woke Keith up."

A short time later after explaining Matt was giving Keith a hard time about dating his sister and a few 'rules' to follow, Colleen was having a similar talk to her daughter about 'rules' for her first relationship.

"Hello?" a man in a white coat asked walking in.

"Not at all." Colleen said standing up "Keith. This is the head doctor in charge of Shiros surgery."

"You're Commander Shiroganes next of kin?" the doctor asked turning to face Keith.

"Yes, now can you tell me how Shiro is?"

"The good news is that he will live. Little injury to his head aside from a large gash on the bridge of his nose." The doctor started.

"And the bad news?" Pidge cut in.

"The bad news… we had to amputate his right arm. I'm sorry but it was beyond saving. He should be brought in here pretty soon. He will be put under for a while and we will slowly work him out of it so he doesn't go into shock when he sees it."

"Wait." Keith started confused "He was completely conscious before he went back there for surgery, right? Otherwise why would he know to ask me to come here? And if he knew he was going into surgery, and knew that you were more than likely not going to be able to save his arm how would he go into shock?"

The doctor kind of gave a slightly exasperated look, but quickly wiping it away "he may have been prepared but suddenly waking up and missing a limb may still cause him to go into shock. I've seen his record and it doesn't look as though he's had many injuries in the field, so something this bad may have a negative effect on his psyche if we are not careful."

With that, the doctor left the room, leaving the four in there alone until Shiro was brought in on a bed. "Shiro." Keith spoke quietly as he sat down on the bed and Pidge joined him placing her hand on his shoulder rubbing it slightly.

"Keith…" Shiro dazedly said.

"Rest now, Shiro." Colleen spoke. "You three need to rest as well."

* * *

Days passed as Keith, Pidge and Colleen went back home. Soon after Matt was allowed to stay home with his mother and sister, while there were no reports on Sam being found at all. When Keith was not at home making sure everything was set for Shiros return, he would either be with Pidge or help her and Colleen watch after a Shiro-withdrawn Matt.

"You know what?" Keith asked Pidge as they laid down on the couch in her living room.

"What?" she asked cocking her head to the side as she slightly lifted herself up off of him.

"I honestly can't tell if Matt is pining after Shiro or not. And if so, he needs to do something about it now that Shiro and Adam are no longer together, and before he gets with someone else or something." He replied.

"Wait, Shiro's gay?! I thought Adam was just a _really_ close friend!" she said surprised by this revelation.

"Well he could be bi from most of his interactions with the female gender, but yeah he favors men."

"Hmm, the more you know… anyways I honestly don't know what Matts sexuality is at this point. Far as I can tell he really likes women he really finds Allura attractive, but I think it's one of those 'He is the only person I'd be gay for' things for Matt." She pondered, rubbing her chin lightly.

"Haha" Keith chuckled.

"What?"

"You look so cute when you're confused or thinking really hard about something." He told her, pressing his forehead against hers looking into her big amber eyes.

"Thanks" she blushed as she leaned in to kiss him…

"HELLO HOLT RESIDENCE!" Lance shouted as barged in through the front door.

The sudden outburst caused both of them to roll off the couch in surprise, with Keith accidently landing on top of Pidge.

"Oh are we interrupting?" Lance asked wiggling his eyebrows.

"Lance, I told you we should have knocked." Hunk told him as he tapped his fingers together while slouching "Sorry guys, he wouldn't listen."

"It's fine Hunk, we're used to Lances stupidity. Um, Keith? Mind getting up now? This position, it's rather embarrassing?" Pidge laughed, as Keith stood up.

"Ssoooo, how is the happy couple?" Hunk asked leaning in closer to the two.

"Wai- WHAT?! You two? A couple? I was just joking!" Lance screamed "Who all knew this delicate information?"

"Let's see, me." Hunk stated.

"Allura heard the other day." Keith mentioned.

"Obviously, my mom and Matt know as well." Pidge chimed in.

"So… I'm the last one?" he sniffed wiping away a fake tear drop.

"Yeah, pretty much, I mean we told Shiro the other day when he was recovering but he was on a lot of pain medication so he might not remember it, so maybe you won't be the last one." Keith informed him, which brought a small smile to Lances face.

"Anyways, I'm happy for you guys. So? When's the wedding?"

"AH!" Pidge and Keith shouted in unison as they fell backwards.

"We literally just got together the other day!"

"Yeah, we are definitely not there. And probably won't be for a long while, right Keith?"

"Yeah, a long while."

"Hahaha! You two should see the look on your faces!" Lance laughed as he hugged Hunk for support from falling over.

"What are you two even doing here?" Pidge asked exasperated as she pinched the bridge of her nose. "Not that you are annoying or anything Hunk, and to a slightly less extent Lance, but we kind of had plans."

"Oh really, like what?" Hunk asked teasingly.

"I'm going to assume, making out and being lovey-dovey." Lance laughed.

"Actually, that was only part of the plan."

"Wait? We were going to make out?" Keith lightly blushed as he rubbed the back of his neck.

"Maybe." She teased "But he and I were going to make armor for him like my riding gear."

"Oooh, can we join in? Please?" Hunk begged "I want some cool armor, too!"

"Hey, if everyone else gets armor, I want some too."

After a short amount of time of bickering and pleading, Pidge and Keith finally caved and let the two join them. Hunk was just amazed at the armor making process, and was gushing at the material that it was made from. Lance on the other hand was very confused at the whole ordeal, but thought the overall idea of having super armor was awesome, and he noticed a rolled up blue parchment out of the corner of his eye, he nudged Keith with his elbow as they looked at it.

"Hey what's this?"

"I don't know, Pidge? What's this?" Keith asked examining it.

"Huh? No! Put that down! That's a surprise, CLASSIFIED INFORMATION!" she lunged at him attempting to get the schematics.

"Nuh-uh-uh, little lady." Keith smiled at her as he raised it out of her reach " Come on, what is it?"

"Fine. Just give me the paper before you damage it." After finally getting the paper back she unrolled it on a table "I was playing with the idea of making some _non_ -functional weapons to match the armor. Each weapon would match the personality of the user. For example, Keith, with your fascination with knives, you would get a sword. Hunk, you're built like a tank, and what do tanks do in rpgs?"

"Deal damage?" Hunk wondered.

"Exactly! So you'd get a laser mini-gun. Not lethal lasers of course. And Lance always sharp and precise with your comebacks, you'd get a sniper." She finished.

"What about you Pidge, what would you get?" Keith asked.

"The best way I can think to describe it simply, imagine a taser mixed with a double bladed trench knife, aaannd a grappling hook."

"How come you get this super OP triple useful weapon?" Lance whined.

"Ohoho, just wait until Keith proves himself loyal, then he'd get a super-duper OP mix of all our weapons. Plus a few bonuses exclusive to him." She laughed at Lances expression.

"What do you mean 'prove myself loyal'?" Keith asked cocking his head to the side raising an eyebrow.

"Basically, if you can handle being a leader and manage being my boyfriend for a full year, than you would deserve it." She said lifting herself up on her tiptoes to kiss his cheek. "Anyways, back to the armor. I need each of your body measurements. Hunk, you're first, and before you two complain, he wasn't snooping around my workshop and loOKING AT CLASSIFIED MATERIAL!"

"Fair enough." The two boys in question conceded as they coward down.

"Y'know? I think it's fair to say she wears the pants in this relationship." Lance laughed under his breath as he whispered to Keith. Earning himself a hit from Keith.

Pidge was smiling to herself listening to them as she continued taking the measurements "So?" Hunk started, breaking her from her thoughts "How is the happy couple? You never really answered earlier."

"Great. Like, really great! Honestly, I wish the two of us got together sooner." She smiled as she glanced over at Keith, amused at his and Lances arguing. "You wanted this to happen eventually, didn't you?"

"What can I say? Lance isn't the only romantic here. But for real, I'm happy for you little buddy." Hunk smiled as he ruffled her hair.

"Agh, Hunk! Just because I'm little doesn't mean you can ruffle my hair!" pouted the brown haired girl.

"So how do you actually go about making these suits?" Lance asked leaning over her shoulder.

"See that machine?" she asked pointing a pencil to the corner of the garage without even looking there.

"Yeah."

"Think of it like a super high tech 3-D printer, kay? I don't feel like trying to explain the science of it to a guy I know either, A: won't understand it. Or B: Won't even care about the science portion." She explained to him as she finished off everything she needed from Hunk.

"Fair enough." Lance said closing his eyes and rubbing his chin.

"Alright, over here Lance." Pidge voiced as she yanked him in front of her.

"Try to stay still, that way I can get the measurements as accurate as possible."

While they were working on Lance, Keith and Hunk walked into the main building of the house to get some food. "Hey boys, what you need?" Colleen asked as she was washing some dishes in the kitchen.

"Oh hi, Mrs. Holt! We were just going to look for something to snack on." Hunk smiled as he walked passed her.

"If you two can wait a little bit longer, I was actually about to start cooking dinner."

"Ooh real food sounds better than just a small snack! We can wait!" Hunk bursted with excitement not even letting Keith speak.

"Anything you need, Colleen?" Keith asked.

"No, I don't think so Keith- wait actually yes. Can you go check in on Matt? And if he's asleep wake him up please?"

"Yes, ma'am." He smiled walking around the corner to Matts room.

"Matt, you awake?" he asked opening the door, in return all he got was a groan from face down Matt "Come on buddy, wake up." Keith pleaded with him, taking the pillow out from under the other boys face.

"Oh god, my heads killing me!" Matt groaned finally sitting up "What time is it?"

"Probably close to five or so." Keith told him as he helped Matt up "Your mom asked me to wake you up for dinner, which she'll be starting to make soon."

"Any idea what she's making?" Matt wondered.

"Nope, she was in the middle of washing dishes when she sent me to get you."

"What about Shiro? Isn't he supposed to be coming home soon?" Matt asked while they walked out of his room.

"Yeah, hopefully in the next few days. And then they are going to try and get a good prosthetic for him."

"That's great news… Wait with you being over here all the time, is everything set over at your guys place for him coming back?"

Keith laughed "You kidding? I haven't hardly slept making sure that it's beyond set for his return."

"You know you can ask for help, right?" he asked stopping for a moment to look at Keith.

"Yeah, I know." Was all Keith said in return, earning him a grab on his shoulder from Matt.

"Seriously, me, mom, and Katie would be there in a heartbeat to help." Matt said pulling Keith back.

"I know Matt, seriously thanks. If I think of anything I need help with, I'll call you guys over."

"Good, besides, you need to learn to start asking your future brother in-law for help when you need it anyways." Matt laughed as he let go of Keith to walk to the kitchen. All the while Colleen, Pidge, Lance, and Hunk were stifling their laughter listening to the two boys interaction in the hall.

"So Keith?" Colleen started "You need to ask your future mother-in-law for help?"

"Come on, leave him alone mom."

Pidge told her as she grabbed Keith by the arm "Let's go. Your turn." She told her boyfriend dragging him towards the garage, lightly stomping her feet as they left her family.

"Maybe we shelve those jokes for a while…" Colleen turned to her son.

"Agreed."

* * *

"Argh!" the short angry girl screamed "Does everyone have to keep making jokes! Finally I'm in a relationship and they joke about the future of it!?" she huffed in rage.

Keith was lost, he did not entirely understand what was wrong with the jokes, but he did what he thought would be the best thing to do and tried to calm his girlfriend down. "Um, Pidge… How about we get started on this? I'm sure that'll make you happier."

She glared at him for a moment but took a breath and began working nonetheless. "So? What color weapon are you going to give me?"

"What color do you think I'll give you idiot?" she laughed, taking the tape measure to begin.

"I know you're going to give me a red one to begin with, but after that? What color?"

"Probably black, it's a good compliment to red, so I think it will be a good second for you. What do you think?"

"Sounds good to me. How long will it take you to make all of our armor?"

"Well the material is pretty expensive, but assuming that I have the amount of it needed, I could probably make all your armors in a little under two weeks or so."

"Wow! That's awesome." Keith said smiling at her enthusiasm.

"At this rate, we might as well make them real weapons and build giant robots for ourselves!" she shouted in excitement.

"Oh and what would we do with these giant robots?"

"Might as well do the most outrageous thing and DEFEND THE WHOLE UNIVERSE!"

"How much cartoons have you been watching here lately?" he laughed at his joke harder than even he thought he should have.

"Why do I love you again?" she asked playfully irritated.

"I'm super lucky?"

"Mm, sounds about right." She said as the two leaned into each other, beginning to kiss each other. Keith then picked her up and sat her on her work table, not once breaking the kiss between them.

Some time passed, the two occasionally stopping to breathe before going back. "I think it's safe to say we've made a lot of progress in that endeavor" PIdge laughed "I told you all that time ago we'd be able to get plenty of practice, and look how it's paying off."

"Oh, get a room!" Matt said as he and Lance laughed in the doorway.

"WE _HAD_ A ROOM BEFORE YOU TWO MORONS INTERRUPTED!" She shouted outraged at the two.

"Come on lovebirds. Mom has dinner ready."

"How long were we in here?! It only feels like a few minutes!" she asked in shock.

"Long enough, come on." Lance waved them along as they all walked to the dining room.

Dinner went off without a hitch, or at least what Pidge would consider a hitch, no jokes from Matt, Lance or her own mother. As usual Hunk was super polite to Colleen, and Keith and Pidge were being overly cutesy too each other for Matts liking, causing him to silently gag and point into his mouth, earning him a scolding from his mom.

All in all a pretty good dinner.

"Hey Keith, can we go swimming at your place?" Lance asked.

"Is that the whole reason you guys came over earlier?" Pidge inquired.

"Yes, yes it was. So Keith what do you say? Swim session at the 'gane residence?"

"You know what? Yeah, I haven't went swimming in about a week. I assume you already have your trunks?" Keith asked.

"Yeah, got 'em waiting outside in Hunks vehicle just in case you said yes." Lance informed him.

"Colleen, can Pidge and Matt swim too? Or do you need them?"

"Just keep an eye on Matt, and you three keep an eye on Keith and Pidge and everything will be fine." She said turning to see a miffed daughter.

"Sorry sorry, but could you really expect me to go this long without being the laughably overprotective mother?" Colleen chuckled as she hugged her daughter. "Now you five go have fun next door, I'll clean up over here and check on you all later with some dessert." She smiled as she started cleaning up the kitchen.

"Okay see you two next door, thanks Colleen for everything." Keith said as he, Lance, and Hunk walked to his house to get in the pool.

Soon after Pidge changed into her bathing suit as she walked outside to hop the fence, "You know you're going to hurt yourself by climbing that fence, right?" Matt said as he walked around to enter through the gate on Keith and Shiro's side of the property.

"Yeah? Well I was able to successfully be at the pool like thirty-seconds longer, ssooooo…. nyeh" Pidge said mockingly as she stuck her tongue out at her brother as she slowly entered the water. "My god, this is cold. You could've said something!" She screamed as she jumped up and out of the water.

"Come on, it's not that bad." Lance said as he lazily kept himself floating.

"Shut up, Lance! Your element is cold." She hissed.

"Imma go with Lance sis, surely it's not that bad" Matt said as he jumped into the pool in a cannon ball position. "OH MY GOD! REGRET, HUGE REGRET!" he yelled throwing water at his sister "Ha, just kidding."

"You may have been joking, but now you are about to feel real regret." Keith said calmly, hiding a smile.

"Wha-? Oh my god!" the Holt boy panicked as he saw his sister diving at him.

"Calm down Pidge, you kill him right after his recovery, your mom kills me." Keith calmed her as he pulled Pidge off her brother.

"I wouldn't kill him… Brutalize, maybe. But not kill." She said looking up at her boyfriend smiling "Now, Lance!" she said as she and the Cuban boy both grabbed Keith and threw him under the water.

After a moment of being underwater he jumped up and gasped for air "Cheap shot beautiful" Keith said as his hair covered his entire face, dripping water down. "But guess what? I have an advantage in this little game of yours."

"Oh? And what would that be?"

"You're small enough I don't need help." He smiled evilly as he picked her up and prepared to send her under.

"Not fair. Clever. But not fair." She said as she kissed him.

"Thank you" he said appreciating the comment and kiss as he dunked her under water real fast and pulled her back up.

"Ooohhh that is cold, but at least I can adapt to the cold faster. Truce?"

"Truce."

In the time they all swam for hours on end Matt, Lance, Keith, and Pidge decided to attempt to throw Hunk under the water, but to their dismay they failed miserably and eventually gave up.

"Okay" Lance yawned as he looked up at the sky "Time to go Hunk, I want to get to my nice warm bed."

"Yeah, you're probably right." Hunk said as he too yawned "We'll see you later guys. Good night."

"Night guys." Matt and Pidge said as the two boys began to walk away.

"Night." Keith said flatly as they walked out of the backyard.

"M'kay… I am going to take an appropriate amount of ibuprofen and I am going to sleep." Matt voiced as he climbed out of the pool, completely drenched. "It's like one A.M. or something so be home soon Pidge, otherwise mom will flip out and all of us will have to deal with it." Matt began walking away as he rounded the fence to go to property on the other side "Oh, and Keith? Remember what I said earlier, come get me if you need help preparing for Shiro." He finished as he walked in the Holts backdoor of the residence.

Keith looked up at the moon and stars "How did I get lucky enough to go from being a motherless, fatherless orphan, to a guy with awesome friends, a great brother, and an amazing girlfriend whose family treats me like one of their own?"

"The universe decided 'He's been through way too much shit, let's give him a break.' maybe something like that?" smiled at him as she laid her head on his shoulder "I said it last week but you are the strongest person I know."

"Thank you Pidge, I love you… This water is starting to get cold again, wanna wrap up for the night and then we can do something tomorrow?"

"Yeah, sounds good mind if I come in and get a towel real fast? I forgot mine and my mom will more than likely get very upset if I get the house soaked." She laughed nervously.

"Haha yeah, come on let's get you dry." He chuckled as they walked into the house.

"If Shiro knew you were keeping this place so dark while he was gone, he'd drive his way over here right now to complain." She laughed as she walked past him to turn on the light.

"You're not wrong, go ahead and head to the bathroom to dry up, and then we can say goodnight proper."

As she walked up the stairs Keith thought to himself _I am so lucky_. Seconds later she walked back down with a towel wrapped around her.

"So how are we saying 'Goodnight proper', hm?" she asked raising her eyebrow.

"Well, I may have been hoping that we could go with the idea of making out for a quick moment and ending it with a goodnight and love you."

"Hm, maybe you can get that lucky." She said as she walked up slowly before they started to kiss… *BAM* there was a loud noise coming from the front porch.

"Oh my god!" they screamed in unison.

"I swear to God that if this is Lance again I am going to kill him." Keith said as he angrily marched to the door. "Lance!" he yelled as he swung the door open, to reveal there was no one there. The only thing that was around was a small knife, stabbing a note into the door.

"What does it say?" Pidge asked as she looked at the note.

"I heard what happened to your 'brother' I am sorry for it. But when he gets back ask him what he knows about your mother and this blade. P.S. that girlfriend of yours is cute, tell her that her father is safe."

"Wait, my dad's okay? Does it say anything else? Where he is?"

"No, this is it. But who could it have been from? And what could Shiro possibly know about my mom? She disappeared when I was a baby, I couldn't have possibly had any connection with him. And my dad never talked about him I don't think." Keith said clearly confused about everything.

"I don't know what to think of this, but I am just glad to hear my dad is safe. Let's put a pin in this, and tomorrow we get as much info on this knife as we can until Shiro gets home. Then you can ask him everything you need to."

"Yeah, and not to be overprotective or anything and I know you live right next door but with something like a knife put into my door, I want to walk you to your porch." Keith told her as he opened the door again as they walked to the next house over.

"Mom will be happy to know that dad is safe somewhere, mind if I keep the note to show her?"

"Yeah, night love you." He said as he handed her the note.

"Good night, love you too Keith."

 **A/N: Holy sh*t, when I started this six weeks ago on August 26** **th** **I was not expecting this at all! F*cking 27 pages and about 10,648 words later (11,291 if you include my authors notes) I made my biggest story yet. The original plan was going to be a short one-shot but now I am going to make a full story out of it. (Because 27 pages and 10,000+ words apparently isn't enough for me) so expect this to get another chapter soon, but do not expect it to be 27 pages. Anyways hope to hear your reviews soon and tell me what you think of it, hope you liked reading it as much as I loved writing it. Don't be afraid to PM me if you don't want to leave a public review but I'd love feedback of some kind. See Ya!**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Part 2 of the Keith and Pidge "One-shot" had some nice people talk about the last chapters in my PMs and reviews, but I hope to see even more private and public reviews too. I also hope to have as good feedback for this chapter as the first one.**

 **Without further ado! Here's Part 2**

 **Keith and Pidge: Our Little Slice of Life**

 **Part 2**

"Keith Akira Kogane! Sit your ass down!" Pidge yelled at her boyfriend, doing one of her very, _very,_ rare cussing sessions.

"Why? I'm fine!" the boy in question yelled back as he tried to stand up as she threw him back down onto his couch.

"Because I fu-" the petite girl started before she got cut off.

"Kaitlyn! Language!" Colleen yelled from the kitchen, scolding her daughter "But she's right Keith, you need to take it easy and sit down." She said instantly switching to her 'motherly tone'.

"He wouldn't _need_ to take it easy if he called us earlier like I told him to. But nooo! He had to wait until the day of Shiro coming back, _and_ for us to come and help on our own!" Matt complained from down the hallway, vacuuming and muttering to himself as he did so.

"Guys seriously, like I said when you all got here, I can handle finishing this place up for Shiro." Keith told them as he struggled to stand back up, though when he finally managed to do so he collapsed into Pidge's arms.

"What the heck?" she whispered in shock, finally getting a good look at just how wore out her boyfriend truly was, feeling the almost dead weight of him on her and seeing how many bags were under his eyes. "You've been doing this crap since we were little… You always push yourself too far without asking for help." She said barely holding in a voice of concern and irritation.

"What can I say? Not a fan of sharing my issues with others…" he smiled.

"Well if you want to keep dating me, you're gonna learn!" she said heaving him over her shoulder.

"Sorry, but you of all people know I have some walls up." Keith said as he slouched over her.

"Katie, why don't you take him back to his room and get him to lay down? If we need you for some help we'll come get you." Colleen suggested, turning on the water to wash a few dishes that were not finished.

"You read my mind, mom." Pidge said, dragging Keith forcefully to his room.

"Oh, and Keith, you best be relaxing for the next few hours until it's time for Shiro." Colleen commanded.

"Sis, you better not be getting any ideas." Matt wiggled his eyebrows at her as she passed him "I'll be right out here listening."

Pidge turned her head slowly, shooting her older brother a death glare "Matt, you are my brother and I love you, but if you do not shut up and leave us alone, I will kill you.

* * *

As they entered Keith's room, Pidge laid him down on his bed, earning a groan from him.

"What's wrong emo? Don't know how to relax?" she said with a smile on her face, calling him her old teasing nickname for him.

Keith could hear the smile in her voice, causing him to smile too. "It's just…" he said muffled by the pillow before pulling his head up "I should be helping fix this place up, he's my brother and I should be getting ready for his arrival."

Pidge put her hand to her lips to think, before getting an idea. "Lay back down, I'm going to help you relax."

Keith sighed, knowing that there was no arguing with her he obliged and laid his face back on the pillow. After a second of her not doing anything he started to raise his head back up before he was stopped by Pidge massaging his shoulders.

"You are way too tense Keith, please for me, take a break." She said softly.

"I truly don't deserve how good you treat me." He told her as his shoulders started to loosen.

"I treat you how you deserve, you deserve happiness just like everyone else." She told him, then she did something Keith was not expecting, Keith felt her climb on top of his back and she started to straddle him.

"Um, Katie…? What are you doing?" he asked confused.

"Better leverage from here, now lay down." She whispered in his ear causing him to twitch for a second, before she went back to massaging him she pecked his cheek.

It probably only took a moment or two until he passed out completely, but just to be safe she kept it up before sneaking away. "Sleep well." She smiled before gently closing his bedroom door.

* * *

"So? How is the sweet prince?" Matt asked mockingly.

"Sleeping. Thankfully. He's been running in overdrive mode ever since that strange knife and letter showed up, it's really taken its toll on him… that reminds me, mom? Have you heard anything from the Garrison? You said you were going to ask them to analyze it, right?"

"Yes…" Colleen said hesitantly

"There's a 'but', isn't there?" Matt wondered, concern clear in his voice.

"Yes, there's always a 'but'. The Garrison did analyze it like I requested, but they couldn't find any clues, no handwriting that matched in any databases, no fingerprints, not even a strand of hair!" Colleen told them, struggling to not break down for the sake of her kids.

After a second she regained her composure, "Anyways, Katie… bringing up that knife, do you know where it's at? I'm sure it could aid them in finding clues."

"Keith has it, it hasn't left his side since he got it. Honestly it kind of gets in the way when we-" Pidge cut herself off "Heheh, never mind.." she said blushing and laughing nervously.

"Katie, you have a boyfriend. You two make out. Heck, I've even caught you two making out. It's fine." Colleen smiled, making light of the conversation.

"FALSE!" Matt yelled "She is my baby sister and she shall remain innocent and not make out with a Keith!" he continued yelling and hugging his sister in a clear overreaction.

"Idiot! Keith is sleeping peacefully for the first time in days! And what do you mean 'a Keith'? Besides it's not like you haven't caught us making out either, example being when we had that dinner for all of us a couple weeks ago." Pidge asked slapping her brother multiple times while their mother laughed at her children.

"Hm" Matt sounded "Guess I must have repressed that memory."

"Okay you two, that's enough, now let's finish cleaning this place up for both Keith and Shiro." Colleen said breaking the two up.

"Truce?" Matt asked.

"Truce."

Now that everything had calmed down, the three Holts spent the next few hours putting the finishing touches on the 'gane' residence. Colleen with the wiping down the counters, Pidge wiping the tables in both the living room and dining room, and Matt 'organizing' the living room by snooping through all of Keith's weapons he had left out.

"Hey, sis?" Mat started.

"Yeah?" she asked laying down on the carpet trying to clean the tough spots on the coffee table.

"What's your best guess for Keith's weapon obsession? I know you have some sort of analysis by this point."

Pidge popped her head up, with Colleen peeking into the living room to hear her response as she too was curious. "Well, it's true I've thought about this question a lot, but my best conclusion is that since he has went through a lot of bad things, with his mom abandoning him and his dad dying, that he probably finds some sort of security with them. I also believe that's why he has such a hard time letting people in. He probably feels if he pushes people away before they get too close, he can't be rejected later on."

"Hm" Matt started "Just proves how important you are to him if you ask me." He told his sister, who grew a smile. A truly genuine smile.

"Thanks, Matt." She said.

"Y'know, I always forget that he's adopted" Colleen said as she looked at a picture of Keith and Shiro "he and Shiro are so close as if they were actually brothers." She spoke lightly, looking back towards the direction of Keith's bedroom before she turned back to her kids.

"Guess I just got lucky Shiro took pity on me, heheh." Keith laughed, stretching his arms out as he entered the living room. "So, what'd I miss?"

"You have no idea how hard is for me to refrain from making a reference right now." Pidge smiled as she walked up and gave Keith a quick kiss "You look a little more relaxed now. Are you finally feeling rested?"

Keith laughed returning the kiss, "Don't worry, I think I know the reference you were going to make, but yes thanks to you. To all three of you, thanks for making me take a break." He said giving a wink to Pidge, earning a snort of laughter from her before she covered her mouth and nose.

Colleen turned to her son in confusion, he just shrugged "I kinda think I know what they're talking about, but it's in the back of my brain, so I don't really know."

"Again thank you guys." Keith said before giving Colleen a small hug and Matt a 'bro' hug.

"You're welcome, Keith." Colleen smiled, gently returning the hug.

"Of course man, I had to help my future brother-in-law out." Matt laughed until Pidge elbowed him in the side. "Ow!"

"So how long was I out for? Anything left I can help with?"

"No, we actually finished up everything just a few moments ago, but to answer your other question, you've been asleep for about three hours or so, though if you'd like to leave now you could arrive at the hospital at just the right time for them to release Shiro."

"Alright, thanks Colleen." Keith said gratefully, he then turned to Pidge "Wanna come with? I bet if Shiro forgot because of all the meds he was on we can get an amazing reaction from him." he lightly laughed.

Pidge smiled at the idea of seeing a look of shock on Shiro's face "Yeah, let's go! You won't need me anymore, right mom?"

"No, go on ahead. Your brother and I will go on and get some dinner for Shiro's arrival."

"Thanks, Mom! Come on Emo! Let's go get your dad-bro… wait no that sounds wrong… we need to come up with a term for you two." Pidge started thinking to herself out loud as Keith guided her to the car.

* * *

After they had been driving for a few moments, Pidge snapped out of her thoughts. "Wait, when did we get in the car? I did it again, didn't I?" she asked drooping her arms in disappointment.

"Yeah, but don't worry, it's adorable when you start thinking really hard about something." He smiled gently as he grabbed her hand.

"Heheh, thanks."

The two rode in silence for a bit until Keith broke it "You were right, you know?"

"Oh? About what?" she wondered.

"About- oh we're here already." Keith cut himself off as he pulled into the hospital parking lot "I'll let you know later, let's get Shiro first."

Pidge cocked her head to the side and squinted at her boyfriend in irritation, not liking that he just stopped without fully answering her question. "You know I hate when you do that, but alright, Shiro first, answers second."

Keith pulled up to the main entrance of the hospital "You want to come in too? Or wait for me and him to come back?"

"I'll go ahead and go in too. No point in waiting out here, right?"

"Well, then after you." He said opening the passenger side door for her. The two walked in and approached the receptionist desk.

"Hello, how can I help you?" asked the receptionist.

"Hello, we're here to pick up Takashi Shirogane." Keith answered her.

"Oh! Keith, Katie. How've you been? I haven't seen you two here in a couple days." The receptionist said smiling, she appeared to be half Galra, but the two didn't want to assume.

"We've been fine." Pidge said politely.

"You been keeping your brother out of trouble? He was quite the handful while he was here." She giggled.

"More or less" Pidge chuckled "but he's been even more of a handful than usual, without his 'best buddy' by his side."

"Well, let's get Takashi out of here before we make either of them wait any longer. Sound good?" she asked, mainly aiming the question towards Keith.

"Yeah, is he ready?" the black-haired boy asked, excited to see his 'brother' again.

"Of course I am! I can't leave you by yourself any longer than I have." Shiro said with delight as a doctor rolled him in on a wheelchair, his missing arm still apparent to the other two. "Wait, Katie? What are you doing here? I thought I heard Keith but, I don't see him anywhere. All I see is a guy that is way too happy to be Keith I used to know!" Shiro said smiling "So, knucklehead? You going to give me a hug?"

Keith instantly gave Shiro a hug, Shiro himself rising up from the wheelchair to give a proper hug. "Come on and join in, Pidge." Shiro said as the small amber-eyed girl gave the two boys a hug.

As the three ended the hug, Shiro sat back down "So? What brings you here Katie? I would've assumed you would stay around Matt for now."

"He's with my mom right now, besides… my boyfriend asked me to come with him to pick up his brother, who am I to say no to such a reasonable thing?"

"So that wasn't just my imagining that the first time? You two are actually together?" he asked to which the two answered him by grabbing each other's hands and scratching the back of their heads. "Well, I'm happy for you two. Now can we get home? I feel like I'm going more stir-crazy than when I was stuck at the garrison."

"Yeah, let's go home." Keith said happily as they went outside to the car, Pidge walked in front of the two opening the car door for Shiro to get in.

"Oh, I forgot to check and see how much of the bill our insurance covers, plus your military benefits. I'll be right back." The younger 'gane' said as he walked back into the hospital.

"Thanks for watching after him for me, Katie. He seems so much happier now, and I have no doubt it's because of you." Shiro said sincerely as he attempted to lean up from the backseat.

"Thank you, Shiro. That really means a lot to me hearing you say that."

"Can you catch me up to speed on everything? How's Matt and your mom? Or Allura, Lance and Hunk?"

* * *

"Let's go, Hunk! Keith and Pidge could be back with Shiro any minute, and we still have to pick up Allura!" Lance complained trying to rush his friend.

"Cut me some slack, Lance! I'd be moving a lot faster if I didn't have to carry the cake AND open every door I come across." Hunk voiced back, clearly agitated.

"Sorry, sorry… it's just Matt and Misses Holt said we need to be there soon, especially considering even Keith doesn't know we're having this 'welcome home' party for Shiro."

"Fair enough, now open the backdoor for me, and let's hurry over to Allura's."

* * *

"Mom, is the dinner ready? We need to head back next door, like… ten minutes ago." Matt hollered from down the hall, walking towards the kitchen.

"Yes, I'm pulling it out of the oven now. Can you come and get the paper plates for me while I take the food over?"

"Yeah" Matt said as he rounded the corner into the kitchen, he walked to a stack of paper plates on the counter and grabbed them "Are we ready to head over now?"

"Let's see… food, plates, drinks are already over there, Hunk, Lance and Allura are bringing the cake… Yes, that's everything." Colleen spoke as she recounted everything in her head even as she and her son walked out the door to go to the neighboring house.

As they started to open the door to Keith and Shiro's house Lance and his two passengers had just arrived "Wait, guys! Let me get the door your hands are full." Lance screeched as he ran full speed to get the door for them."

"Would it have killed him to open the doors for me earlier when my hands were full?" Hunk muttered under his breath smiling, obviously not really complaining.

"Don't worry Hunk, I'll open the door for you." Allura said in her heavy accent.

"Thanks, Allura." He said gratefully, stepping out of the car cake in both hands.

The two followed the other thee into the red and black house, amazed at the upkeep on it "Please don't tell me Keith did all of this?" Allura asked dumbfounded.

"Actually, yes he did. Or at least almost all of it." Colleen informed her taking the cake from hunk and setting it down on the dining room table.

"That's surprising."

"Not really, Keith keeps himself on a very strict regimen." Hunk informed her.

"Still, he kept this place in remarkable shape."

"Yeah, believe it or not we had to force him to let us help. He really didn't like the idea of taking our assistance though."

Allura sighed "Of course he didn't… Why are all of you except Hunk and Shiro so stubborn?" she griped.

Matt and Lance turned to each other and back to Allura, shrugged while making an 'I dunno' sound. Allura just groaned "I swear I wouldn't be surprised if he or one of you turned out to be Galra."

"Eeughh" Matt and Lance sounded in disgust "that's hurtful!" they said in unison.

Allura smiled and rolled her eyes, walking over to Colleen "Anything you need of me, Misses Holt?"

"No, nothing comes to mind Allura… Actually, can you text Katie and see where they are? We're only waiting on them."

"Of course!"

* * *

Keith was driving down the street about to round the corner to their house, grumbling under his breath because Shiro was teasing him "You never teased me this much when Pidge and I were just friends." He uttered.

"There's the old Keith!" Shiro laughed, resting his hand on Keith's shoulder "Besides, it wasn't as much fun when you two were just friends."

Pidge looked at her phone seeing she had a text from Allura asking how much longer they'd be. 'Already here.' She replied.

"Oh, looks like Lance is here. I wonder what he wants." Keith said in surprise as they pulled into the driveway.

Keith started to get out "Need any help getting out, Shiro?"

"It's my arm that's the problem, Keith. Not my legs. I can get out fine." He smiled, opening his door and getting out. "Will you be joining us for dinner, Katie? I made Keith promise me to make some chili when I could finally come back."

"If you don't mind, are you sure it won't be a problem?" Pidge asked, following the two up the porch and into the house.

"Of course! You can even invite Matt over too."

"You really want me to struggle in that kitchen, don't you?" Keith laughed as he unlocked the door.

"Yea-"  
"WELCOME HOME!"

Both Keith and Shiro were surprised by their friends being in their house "Did you guys have this planned?" the two said at the same time.

"Yeah" the five in front of them all said and they also heard a voice from behind them.

"You knew too?" Keith asked "Why didn't you tell me?"

"And add one more thing to have you stress over? No. You were way too stressed as is just keeping this place nice. I wasn't going to pile more on top of that." She told him going up on her tiptoes, reaching her arms up around his neck. "Seriously, Shiro. You should have seen him. He collapsed in my arms from how much work he put into keeping the place clean for your arrival." Pidge said still not letting go of Keith.

"Of course you did… Have I taught you nothing, Keith? You can't carry the weight of the world on your shoulders." Shiro told him, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Thank you all for this, it means a lot to me." He smiled, before giving a cheerful laugh.

"So, let's celebrate!" Matt and Lance said at the same time raising cups into the air.

"Don't get too out of hand!" Shiro told them laughing "Keith and I are the ones who will have to clean up the mess afterwards.

Matt chugged his drink "You really think any of us would just leave it to you two? I don't think even Lance would do that."

"Yeah- Hey!" Lance shouted in protest.

"Come on, guys." Hunk said walking in between them "I made some cake just for this, let's not let it go to waste."

"Cake from Hunk? Like I'm passing that up! You bake the best desserts." Said Shiro as he walked into the kitchen. He went to try and reach out for a slice with his right arm "Oh… right." He said catching himself on his mistake. "You think I'd be used to that by now." He chuckled disappointedly, rubbing the back of his neck.

"Why don't you go sit down, Shiro? I'll get you a plate of food." Matt told him.

"I agree with Matt. Go sit down, we'll handle this." Keith said as he walked up behind them.

"Yeah, you guys are right. Between the smartest guy I know, and the most stubborn guy I know, I'm not winning this." Shiro laughed as he went into the dining room with the others.

"So, do you want dessert and drink? Or main plate?" Keith asked.

"He immediately tried going for the cake first, so I'll get him a slice and a drink. Go ahead and handle his actual food." Matt said, offering Keith a fist bump.

He was a bit taken aback by it at first, surprised mainly that Matt was not already at Shiro's side, but he accepted the fist bump nonetheless. "Now go in there, he hasn't had real food in forever and is probably dying for this."

"Haha, yeah you're probably right." Matt smiled as he walked in away with the slice of cake and a glass of soda.

Watching Matt walk out Keith took in a deep breath and let out a sigh, dropping his head.

"Hey emo." Keith heard someone say, though it was not who he was expecting.

"You know, if Pidge heard you call me that, she'd kill you." He spoke as he lifted his head back up and started to prepare Shiro's "real food".

"True mullet, but your little gremlin demon of a girlfriend isn't in here." Lance smiled, smug written on his features.

"The point of you bothering me in here, Lance?" Keith asked, his voice just barely hinting at irritation.

"Just seeing what was taking you so long, Shiro's getting more grey hairs by the second waiting for you. Then I come in here and see you looking like you are about to either drop, or kill someone." By this point the lanky Cuban boy had approached the other boy "What's on your mind Keith? Any problems… Oh God, you and Pidge aren't having problems, right?"

"What!? No, no! Pidge and I are great! Better even…"

"So what's the matter?"

"I… I don't know. You ever just feel, I don't know- a weight, I guess?"

"Gonna need a little more specifics, bud." Lance said as he walked around Keith wrapping his arm around his shoulders.

"Ummm… why are you trying to seduce my boyfriend?" Pidge asked confused, as she poked her head into the kitchen to see the Cuban boy wrapping his arms around his frenemy. The two boys looked at each other before backing away in disgust. The short girl couldn't help but to laugh at their expressions.

"Anyways, what's taking you so long? Shiro scarfed down that cake Matt brought in almost instantly."

"Em-" Lance started before Pidge cut him off in a growel.

"Mullet here, was stressing over something." He finished as he grabbed the plate that Keith prepared for Shiro and started to walk away into the common area "See what you can do." He winked at her as he disappeared around the corner.

"So?... What's bothering you, Keith?" she asked, her voice slightly laced with concern for him.

He stayed quiet for a second, just staring at her before he let loose a small smile at her. "Not-"

"Don't you dare say nothing, Kogane!" she whisper yelled as to not draw attention to them in the kitchen. "Now, you are going to tell me what the heck is bothering you." She said firmly.

"I- I don't know, stress? I guess… maybe?" he said as he leaned back on the counter. Throwing his head back to stare at the ceiling.

"Come on. Follow me." Pidge said as she grabbed him by the wrist, and pulled him through the living room passing the others as they walked outside "We're going to be outside for a minute, yell if you need us, okay?"

"Sounds good Pidge, you too stay safe." Shiro said in between bites of Colleens cooking.

"Don't climb on the house again Katie!" Colleen hollered.

"Sorry can't here you mom!" her daughter yelled back as they closed the door.

"That girl." Colleen groaned with an exasperated smile.

"Tell me about it." Shiro laughed "When you put those two together, you never know what you're going to get."

"Oh God! Imagine if they ever had a kid." Matt and Lance said at the same time.

"JINX!" They said at the same time. "YOU OWE ME A LONG-TIME RELATONSHIP!" the boys continued "WITH TWO KIDS!" they finished at the same time. ( **A/N: I actually took this from the youtube channel Get Good Gaming from the video "Planes Vs. Scooters Challenge! | GTA 5… No clue where they got it from but I found it funny and I feel it is definitely something Matt and Lance would say here** )

Colleen, Shiro, Allura, and Hunk just stared at them "What was that?" Allura asked.

* * *

"Let me guess, we're immediately getting on top of the house?" Keith asked her with a smile.

"You know me so well." She laughed as she tugged him along.

"Mine or yours this time?"

"We went on yours last time, so mine." The petite brunette answered as they reached her backyard.

"Shall I help you up as usual?" he laughed.

"Haha!" she laughed sarcastically "No, I can do it." She deadpanned as she hopped up. After failing after a few jumps she quietly walked away and grabbed a chair "Not a word." She said as she glared at him.

All he did was give a smug smile, and made the 'zipped-lips' motion. As he casually leaped upwards and climbed on the roof.

"Curse these short arms!"

"I'd be more than happy to help you, all you have to do is ask." Keith offered, peaking over the edge.

"Yes please." Pidge crossed her arms in a pout.

"Alright, come on." He smiled as he reached out his arms.

"Thanks" she said as she was pulled on top of the house. When she was fully pulled up, Keith fell back and she landed on top of him.

"Haha, this is nice." He said as he looked into her eyes. "I'm going to assume we'll be doing our usual stargazing and talking?"

"I am becoming far too predictable for you." She smiled as she rolled off to look at the sky.

"Y'know, we haven't done this for a while." Pidge told him after a silent break of them just looking upwards.

"Yeah, actually two months or so I think, I mean it had been awhile since even before we started dating."

"So" Pidge started "We used to talk about stuff that was going on in our lives, but we've pretty much been at each other's side twenty-four seven that that would be a bit redundant to talk about…"

"Yeah, maybe." Keith replied "I mean this question could be awkward but, where do you want this relationship to go?"

"Hm, not really awkward, just could be taken the wrong way without proper context." Pidge told him as she put her hand to her chin to think. "Keith, you are my best friend, you climb on roofs with me to just talk and look at the ever expanding universe, if our friend group was a body we'd be the arms, I want this relationship to be one that we never give up on and one that never ends. I want this relationship to go all the way, that's what I want." She told him as she turned over to face him.

At first he just stared at her blankly, and she felt a little weirded out considering everything she just said.

"Well, don't leave me in suspense. I mean I did just pour my plans ou-" she was cut off by Keith putting his hands on her cheek and lightly kissing her.

"I think you just said our wedding vows." He laughed lightly as he moved back from her to his own little space.

Pidge blushed but recomposed herself "Please, you are not using that you can come up with your own vow." She laughed back, moving over to him after he backed away and she started to lightly press her forehead against his.

"Hey lovebirds!" they heard Shiro yell "I know you two are up there, come on back in. It's too cold and you're missing all the fun."

"Alas our time is up!" Pidge said in an overdramatic tone.

"Shall I help you down too?" he chuckled.

"Better plan, you go down first."

"…Okay." He said hesitantly before hopping down "Now wha-"  
"You better catch me!" she said excited as she jumped down without hesitation.

"Whoa!" Keith said as he caught her "You're crazy, y'know that?" he smiled.

"And your hands on my butt, did you know that?" she said raising an eyebrow and giving a smug smile because she knew just how he was going to react when he realized it.

"Ah- sorry, sorry!" he said as he quickly let her go, and she had to hurry up and wrap her arms around his neck so she wouldn't fall to the ground.

"Hahaha, that was incredibly predictable." She laughed as she let go of him "So answer me this, why can you kiss me no problem, but get all flustered when you accidently grab my butt?"

"First off they are two VERY different signs of affection. Second, the kissing was intentional. That was accidental." Keith pointed out to her, defending his mannerisms as they walked back over to the neighboring house.

"So you're telling me that you can intentionally touch my butt, and not act all awkward?" she asked cocking her head to the side to question him.

"Of course."  
"Prove it." She said without skipping a beat.

"Wh- what? Why?"

"I don't think you can. Just try and prove me wrong." She challenged him.

"Then it wouldn't be of my own volition, so I can't do it right now."

"You know that I am not made of glass, right? You can show affection." Pidge told him as she rested her head on his arm as they approached the front porch of the 'gane residence. "It's just shy of being seven o'clock, prove me wrong before the clock hits midnight. So you have until eleven fifty-nine and fifty-nine seconds. She said as she pecked him on the cheek.

* * *

Keith tried sticking equally close his brother and his girlfriend, to most everyone in the house (pretty much everyone but Lance), it was clear he was stressing to divide his attention equally between the two most important people to him.

To Lances credit though, he was able to see that Keith was stressed, he just didn't know what about, and he decided to aid his best frenemy "Keith my man, you look down. Here take this, a special made concoction from mama McClain herself." He said in an excited manner, passing off a tiny glass bottle to Keith.

"Hrm" Keith let out a small growl in annoyance "What is it?" by this point the others were watching the two boy's interaction, the three Holts specifically were curious to see what transpired.

"I dunno, my mom gave it to me a while ago when I turned eighteen. Said it's guaranteed to help when I feel overwhelmed and just need to relax. Which is something that you look like you could use right now." The Cuban boy finished as he took off the lid for Keith.

"I swear, if this is poisonous and I die I will haunt you…" Keith warned as he gulped the single shot of liquid that was in the small bottle "Blegh" he gagged "That's disgusting."

Lance laughed, as did some of the others, as the party began to get back into motion, and as time passed Keith visibly started to loosen up and relax, much to the pleasure of everyone else there.

"So Lance…" Pidge whispered as she watched Keith from a distance "What was that drink? Could come in handy in the future."

"Like I told him, I don't really know what it is. All I know is it's strong, and when it hits, it hits hard. And that it hasn't fully hit him yet. In percentages and such that you love so much, he's maybe at about the fifteen percent mark. Right now he's loose and enjoying himself, next he actually will get _more_ mopey than normal, then he'll get a little peeved bordering on straight up pissed, and finally he will get overly emotional and talk about how much he loves everyone here." Lance told her as he counted the steps on his fingers.

"You know all of this how?"

"Well I can't guarantee it, there's always the chance a step could be skipped, but if my entire family is anything to go off of then yes, that is exactly how it will play out. Give it about five more minutes and he'll be at stage two."

"Anything come after the emotional stage?" she asked curiously.

Lance thought on it for a moment "Oh yeah, he will pass out where he stands. Kinda like how a panda does."

"Well that's good to know, at least we can plan for that. Also next time, do not drug-slash-get my boyfriend hardcore drunk without first asking either me or Shiro."

"Did you actually you say 'slash'? Also, fair enough."

"Yes! I said 'slash', got a problem with it?" she growled through her teeth, getting on her tiptoes, and pushing her index finger into his chest.

"No, no, I'm good. Aalll gooood here." The Cuban boy said in defense as he threw his hands into the air.

"Good." Pidge said flatly, as she walked over to Shiro, as the two of them started to watch Keith rather closely.

"Don't worry, I heard the conversation with Lance. I know why we need to keep an eye on Keith. Particularly, in about thirty seconds the next phase should happen." Shiro told Pidge as she approached him. "You should probably get close to him, it'd be best for everyone that you're right next to him when he 'get's mopey' as Lance said."

"Got it." She agreed as she went up behind Keith and hugged him. "Hey emo, why don't we go over here and sit for a while?"

"Aw, do we have to? I'm just now starting to relax and have fun like you all keep telling me too." He asked.

"Trust me, it's a good idea. Kay?"

"Alright, if you say so." He forfeited, even in the state he was in he knew it would be a futile effort to fight her.

It was only moments after they sat down that Pidge heard some quiet sobbing from Keith "Why are you with me?" she heard him ask.

"What do you mean?" she asked confused.

"I mean, you are the smartest, most beautiful, and perfect girl in the entire universe. Why're you with me, a broken, angry, good for nothing guy, who can't promise you anything resembling a promising future?"

"You don't mean any of that, it's just the drink talking." She told him.

"No it's not Katie, I've been known this for a long time, but I don't know why you'd waste your time on me."

That's when Pidge slapped her boyfriend, not hard enough to hurt him, but enough to knock some since into him. At this point everyone in the house started looking at them "Listen here Keith. I. Love. You. That is why I am with you. You are a great friend, and a great guy. Got that?" Pidge told him as she pressed her forehead against his.

"But-"

"No buts, got it? You're a great guy, who I love. End of discussion." Pidge commanded.

"If I'm so great, why'd my mom leave me? Clearly there's something wrong with me!" Keith yelled.

"Keith dear, calm down." Colleen said calmly.

"No Colleen, let him clear his emotions." Shiro spoke. "Venting would do him some good."

"Oh, you want me to vent! How about I vent about the fact you almost died! About how you almost left me alone again! Does that sound like a good idea _Takashi_?" Keith continued yelling, saying Shiro's name in a mocking tone. "If it wasn't for Matt, you might not even be here! And where would I be? Huh?"

At this point Keith was practically in Shiro's face, screaming at the top of his lungs, almost in tears.

"Okay, things never got this heated when my family had that drink…" Lance whispered to Hunk and Allura who were right next to him.

"Are you done now Keith?" Shiro asked, the other boy huffing in anger. "Good, now I'm sorry I made you think I might have died, and that you'd be left alone. But look around you, you definitely wouldn't be alone. You have someone right here that loves you, and her family looks after you like one of their own. Not to mention all your friends too."

"Oh god, look at me. I'm ruining your welcome home party, I'm sorry Shiro. You've raised me for over eight years, and this is how I repay you…"

"You're fine Keith, I'm sure you've been keeping that locked up for awhile now."

"It's not fine, you guys are like my family and mean the world to me…" then he turned to look at Pidge "I'm sorry I yelled earlier Pidge, I'm really, really sorry."

"I know you are, that's why I told you it was just the drink earlier." She smiled at him.

"I love you." He said as he walked up to her and gave her a kiss, as they kissed Keith quickly grabbed Pidges butt, causing her breath to hitch as they broke the kiss.

"So it takes that drink, huh?" she asked raising an eyebrow and smirking.

Keith laughed "Appar- ent- ly…"

"Panda time." Lance said rather loudly.

"Someone catch him!" Pidge shouted as Keith fell backwards into the Cuban boys arms.

"Eh, no worries I got 'em right here." Lance said as he heaved him up "So should I just throw him on the couch, or his room, or what?"

"Hand him over to me. I'll take him to his room." Pidge told him as she grabbed her boyfriend from Lance and started to drag him off. "Jeez, I swear deadweight really makes him way heavier than normal." She said as she struggled, dragging him down the hall.

"Be sure to lay him on his chest so if he gets sick-" Lance started before he got cut off.

"I know." She growled as she entered his room "Yeah, don't help the five-three, hundred pound girl, carry her almost six foot, hundred and eighty or so pound boyfriend." As she laid him down as gently as she could, thogh she heard a loud thunk as Keith's head accidently hit the bedframe "Ee… you're gonna feel that tomorrow. Sorry, heheh." She said as she rubbed the spot where his head got hit. "Goodnight emo, I love you." She smiled as she gave him a kiss before leaving him alone.

 **(A/N: Those were just my own personal estimates, according to every source I could find on the internet (basically just 3 different versions of wikis) all heights and weights are unknown for all the characters so I just had to assume.)**

"Hey Katie, what was that noise?" Shiro asked worried.

"When I put him down on his bed, I accidently hit his head on his bedframe. Because out of the three, non-injured men here, none of them decided to help me carry him." She said as she glared at the three guys in question.

"Well, you decided to just carry him off from me instead asking for help, so it's on you." Lance defended himself and his friends.

"Shut up. Don't refute me." Pidge threatened as she pointed at him. "Now I am going to home to sleep. Welcome back Shiro, we missed you. If you need any help you know where I'm at."

"I'm going to head back too." Colleen started "Like Katie said, if you need us, we're right there. You coming home too, Matt?"

"No, but I'll be home soon mom."

In the time following Pidge and Colleen's departure, Allura took on the responsible role since Shiro was trying to let loose, meaning she volunteered to clean up most of the trash while Matt and Lance just were having fun with Shiro. Hunk, not being a big partier, helped out with the cleaning as well.

"Seriously guys, you can stop cleaning. The place looks just fine as is." Shiro tried telling them, as he started to contradict himself by cleaning up on his own. "Ow!" he yelled gripping his shoulder.

"What wrong Shiro?" Matt asked him.

"Ugh!" he groaned in pain "Nothing, the doctors said something about 'phantom pains'. Guess this is what they were talking about. Heheh- ah!" After taking a moment to regain his composure, Shiro began walking to his room. "Thank you guys, for all of this. But seriously, you all can go I'm turning in for now. Be sure to lock up the place for me."

"Okay, goodnight Shiro. Let us finish up, then we'll go." Allura.

"Alright, goodnight everyone."

"Night." The others responded.

Before fully going to sleep, Shiro decided to check in on Keith. "Hey Keith, you awake?" he asked, poking his head through the door. He didn't really get a response at all so he walked in fully. "I don't know if you are awake enough to hear me, but I just wanted to say that if you need to talk again, like you did tonight, just do it. Don't hold back for my sake, just don't let that build up any more. That's all I wanted to say." With that he patted Keith's shoulder and began to leave until he noticed something on the dresser. "What's this?" he asked himself as he examined the new blade before noticing the symbol on it. "Not now…"

* * *

"Ooghh" Keith let out a sound that was like a cross between a disgruntled groan and a yawn "Ow my head! Where did this bump come from?" he spoke to no one in particular rubbing the spot on his head before reaching for the blade he keeps on his dresser.

But he couldn't find it.

"No. No, no, no… how could I lose it?!" Keith panicked as he started turning his room upside down to search for it. _Maybe I left it somewhere in the living room…_ he thought to himself as he ran into said room where he was greeted by Shiro and a taller person, presumably a man, that he did not know. And the unknown man, wore a strange outfit that covered his face and was examining his blade.

"Shiro, what's going on here? Who's he? And why does he have my blade?" Keith gritted his teeth, even he did not know why he was so protective over what he thought was just another weapon for him, but for some reason he did not want someone else handling it.

"Keith stand down, I asked him to come here so I can introduce you to each other. Kolivan care to introduce yourself?" Shiro commanded.

"Hello, Keith correct? My name is Kolivan. And this" he said drawing attention to the small blade "is not yours. Not yet anyways." He said tossing the dagger to Keith.

"Okay, now I know your name. Now what's going on and why are you here? And what do you mean it's not mine 'yet'?"

"I'm here so you can make it yours, that blade belonged to your mother."

At that moment Keith felt an incredible weight hit him "Wait- what? Why would this be my moms?" He asked, more and more confusion hitting him by the second.

"You mean you haven't told the boy?" Kolivan said turning to Shiro.

"Okay, Keith. There is some stuff I've been withholding from you ever since I picked you up that day all those years ago. Your dad left a letter for anyone who took care of you, and in it he says everything someone would need to take care of you. Including the fact that your mother was Galra, plus some more info that I am probably not allowed to tell you. Right Kolivan?"

"Correct" Kolivan confirmed for him "The fact you know about her is too much, but it's understandable as to why you know."

"Will you just tell me what you know about my mom!"

"Your mom was an agent of my organization, a special branch called the Blade of Marmora. During one of her assignments she was injured and your father and she met, leading to your birth. Eventually she had to leave you and your father because of an assignment."

Keith could barely keep himself upright, as he started to get slightly out of breath he sat down, he finally knew the truth about his mom and why she abandoned him. "Wait… you said she 'was' an agent…"

"Yes, those words were chosen deliberately, she was sent on one last major assignment before she could be reassigned. But now she's gone either too deep or is just outright gone."

"She's- she may still be alive?" Keith asked, and he was so happy at the thought before he actually registered it in his brain that she has not been heard from in a while. "You came here so I can earn this, is it so I can help get her back?"

"Hopefully, but you'll need plenty of training first. Will you come with me?"

"Wait, we didn't discuss him going anywhere. Just that he'd learn what he needs to for now." Shiro interrupted.

"I'll go."

"Keith-"

"I'll go, on one condition." Keith started again.

"That being?" Kolivan responded.

"I say goodbye to my friends, and at least my girlfriend knows the truth why I'm leaving."

"That's not part of regulation. I'm not sure I can permit that."

"You will or I'm not going. This woman may be my mother but I don't know her. I do know and love Katie though. So do we have an understanding?" Keith asked one last time.

"I'll make it so, Krolia requested to one day bring you in. I won't deny that request, so yes you can tell this Katie. But just her. The rest you can say goodbye, but only that." Kolivan stuck his arm out to shake Keith's hand.

Keith reciprocated, shaking his hand "Thank you, now how long do I have to prepare to leave?"

Kolivan looked over to a clock on the wall "I'll be back at six pm, no sooner and we will leave no later than six-fifteen."

"Wow eight hours… heh, she is not going to like that. Guess I better get started, I'll see you then."

Kolivan just nodded, before walking out the door. Shiro just stood there awestruck at the audacity Keith had to just go with it. "Go ahead, say what you want Shiro."

"You're really going to leave? The day after I just get back home? When yours and Katies relationship is at such a great moment?" Shiro asked in surprise.

"You heard him Takashi! This is the chance for me to meet my mom, she may be in danger and I can help! Please don't tell me that you are honestly trying to get me to not go. I'm sure Katie will completely understand and encourage me going after I explain everything to her."

"I- I won't stop you, but I won't encourage you to go. You are my brother Keith, and I love you." Shiro finished as he walked off on his own, Keith noticed him pulling out his phone before he disappeared out of view though.

 _I wish I could believe my own words, even I'm not sure she'll be okay with that._ Keith thought to himself as he sighed walking out of their house to the one next door.

After sitting at the front door of the Holt residence for moments that felt like an eternity Keith finally rang the doorbell. "Keith! You know very well you can just come on in." Colleen told him as she waved him inside.

"Actually Colleen, could you ask Katie to come outside for me?"

"Um, okay. She'll be right out, is everything alright Keith?"

"I just have some stuff I need to tell her."

"Alright." And with that Keith turned around, left alone on the porch again, only his thoughts to keep him busy while he waited for his girlfriend to come out.

"Hey emo!" the girl in question said jumping on Keith's back.

"Hey Pidge." He replied, pressing his forehead to hers.

"What no kiss? Don't tell me you're getting tired of me." She laughed.

"Wha- no, no, no." Keith panicked before she started kissing him herself.

"Relax, I was just joking."

"Oh, heheh."

"So what's wrong?" Pidge asked, obviously able to see that Keith was struggling with something.

"Katie, I- I'm going to have to go away for a while."

"What do you mean?" she asked, her face full of confusion.

"Something important has come up, it's a little complicated to explain."

"Then tell me everything."

Keith took in a deep breath "Okay, so that dagger that showed up mysteriously, the one with the symbol? Well that apparently represents some secret branch of, I guess the military in some way, called the Blade of Marmora."

"Okay… what does that have to do with you leaving?"

"Apparently my moms an agent of the Blades, that's why she had to leave me and my dad all that time ago. But she's still alive, and she may be in danger. So the head of the Blades came to me this morning, and he asked me to go with him. On one condition though."

Pidge was still reeling from all the information, from hearing about this secret organization, to the amazing news for Keith that his mom was still alive, to that final sentence he said. "What was it?"

"That I get to tell you everything, I wasn't going to repeat her mistake and just leave the one I love. And I still don't want to. I don't know what to do. I don't want to leave you, but I have the chance to meet my mom and ask her so many questions."

"I don't want you to go either, but you have to. Not only because you already said you would, but because you need to take this chance. But you promise me one condition." Pidge told him.

"Anything."

"You promise you'll come back to me. No matter how long or dangerous this job gets, you come back. And you better talk to me whenever you get the chance, I know it's a covert organization or whatever but I'm really going to miss you." She finally broke down and hugged him, tears starting to form at the corners of her eyes.

"I'm going to miss you too." Keith said as he gave her a kiss. "And I promise you, I will come back." He said looking into her amber eyes "Besides, maybe I can find some info on your dad while I'm gone. But anyways, we still have almost eight hours. So let's make the most of today, yeah?"

"Jeez, I don't even have a full day to say goodbye to you? And if you can do anything to find him, thank you." Pidge laughed in between the sobs.

"Of course. And yeah sorry about that, but I'm entirely yours, and yours only for the day. Though I will have to say goodbye to the others at least. Oh, and when I do, they can't know why. The deal was only you know the truth."

"Oh, okay. What are you going to tell them?"

"Well I'm not the best liar so I'll just tell them that I can't tell them. But let's not talk about me leaving anymore. So, what do you want to do?"

"I just want to be with you. So can we just go inside and lay down for a while?" Pidge requested.

"Like I said, anything for you." He smiled following her inside.

As they walked in Colleen and Matt were on the couch watching tv, neither could really tell that there was an emotional moment just outside.

"We'll be back here if you need us." Pidge said as they walked by.

"Okay sweetie."

"Be sure to use protection!" Matt hollered, laughing at his own joke. That laughing soon turned to fear though.

"I'm gonna kill him. I'm going to kill my older brother as soon as the day is finished." The younger of the two said calmly, no aggression, just the ever so slight sign of irritation.

Matt gulped and turned to his mother "You'll get no sympathy from me, even I think that was just a little too much." She said, shaking her head at her son.

* * *

"I love my brother, but sometimes I really hate him." She groaned as she tugged him along to her bed. "Anyways, whose turn is it to be big spoon?"

"Ladies choice. Remember, I'm making this day all for you." He smiled as he flopped on her bed, pulling her down with him as well.

As Pidge landed on top of him she smiled back "Since you're already there, you be big spoon for now. I may want to switch later." She told him as she curled up, having him wrap his arms around her in the process.

Keith would admit, that when they first started doing this it was strange to him, strange but comforting. He was also embarrassed doing this cuddling at first. But he really enjoyed it, more than he would let himself physically show, otherwise he felt he would die from embarrassment. About thirty minutes or so passed with the two of them just laying together.

"Keith?"

"Yeah Pidge?"

"I know you said you don't want to talk about you leaving, but I have to ask, do you have an idea how long you'll be gone?" she asked, slightly turning her neck so she could just barely see him, but not so much that either of them would have to shift there bodies to remain comfortable.

Keith slightly lifted his head up "Honestly? No clue. That Kolivan guy didn't give a time frame, but like I agreed to earlier, I'll talk to you every chance I get." He said as he gave her a kiss on the cheek "Now, let's get back to enjoying our time together."

"Trust me, I can tell you're enjoying yourself." She smiled, eyeing her boyfriend knowingly before giving a slight laugh.

Keith was very confused cocking his head to the side "Nevermind," she chuckled as she lifted his arms off of her "time to switch."

"Okay" Keith agreed as he flipped over, but as he did so he felt his jeans tighten, he lost focus and this is where he felt he'd die from embarrassment.

The black-haired boy groaned as he crossed his arms in a pout, as she wrapped herself around him much in the same way he did her.

Pidge giggled now that Keith realized what she meant, "I don't mind. It's actually kind of flattering really." Keith let out a very low growl in response "You know, I was going to make a joke about how you should 'Put your knife away while we're cuddling.'"

That stopped Keith's pouting for a second "… but I don't have my knife with me."

"That's the joke dear." She said in the most monotonous way.

"So I'm promoted to 'dear' now, huh?" Keith chuckled.

"Shut up dork." She laughed, as the two slowly faded into sleeping.

* * *

"Hey lovebirds! Wake up, you've been in there for long enough." Matt said as he walked in seeing the two sleeping.

Pidge lifted her head up and glared at him "What the heck?"

"Come on, you've been sleeping for a few hours. Plus, mom and I talked to Shiro and we know Keith will be leaving later, she wants to take him out for a family lunch." Matt informed them.

"Okay" Pidge said, and with that Matt walked out of the room. "Ugh" she let out a groan as she stretched.

"Hm? What's wrong?" Keith rose up.

"Nothing, just waking up myself. But we do need to get up, mom wants us all to go eat lunch."

"Hm? Ah okay, I wouldn't mind getting a bite right now." He said as he tried to get up before Pidge tightened her grip around him. "Pidge?"

"We just had to wake up, we're not leaving yet. Plus you're really warm." She smiled as she nuzzled into him. "Do we have to go?" She complained looking up at him.

"Do you really want to go against Colleen?" he laughed

"I guess not…"

"Then on that note, we should probably get up."

"Fine but I'm not letting go, meaning you have to pull both of us up." She smiled still gripped on to his waist.

"Alright, challenge accepted." Keith told her as he effortlessly jumped up, yanking her out of the bed with him, though surprisingly she still had her grip locked. "You ready to let go now?"

"No, but I will." She begrudgingly let go, "Give me your jacket though." She smiled as she tugged it off him.

"As you wish, m'lady." He laughed, taking off said jacket and draping it over her.

"I'd say 'Get a room, you two.' But we need to go, so come on." Matt interrupted the lovebirds.

Pidge rolled her eyes as they followed her brother out of the house, and into Colleens van.

"I hope you don't mind you two, but I decided we should all eat at the McClains restaurant. Both to support a friends business and so it will save Keith some time saying goodbye to everyone."

"Thanks Colleen, I'm sure that will make it a lot easier on us all." Keith smiled as Pidge laid her head on his shoulder and he rested his head on hers.

After the short drive there, though filled with awkward silence as it may have been, they finally arrived at the destination.

"Say what you will about Lance, but his moms idea to hire Hunk when they opened this place was an amazing idea. Cuban food with his personal touch? Works of art!" Matt said happily as they approached the door.

"So Princess? What say we ask my mom to get off early and go watch a movie?" Lance asked Allura as he wrapped his arm around her.

"Lance" Allura smiled picking up his hand and taking it off of her "We did that last week, and the week before last. I'd rather not push my luck and risk your mother firing me."

"Please!" Lance laughed "She'd fire me way sooner than she'd fire you. Oh, hey guys!" the Cuban boy turned to see the others entering.

"Hello everyone!" Allura spoke happily "Table for four?"

"Actually, I need to speak to your mom Lance before we get our table. Is she busy at the moment?"

"No, just a sec." he rounded a corner, shortly after he came back "Alright, right this way Colleen." Lance finished before leading her away.

"Do you know why misses Holt needs to speak with Lances mother?" Allura asked.

The three who remained looked to each other before Keith spoke up "I may have an idea but we'll need to wait for her to comeback to make sure."

"Hm, interesting. Never-the-less, tell me, how have you all been? Keith, you seem to be in a much better mood than last night."

"Yeah, well we'll see how long that lasts." He laughed before scratching the back of his head. But allura noticed that his smile seemed different, different in the since that his mouth was open and wasn't his reserved closed mouth smile. At that moment she saw the full effect that the relationship between Keith and Pidge had.

"Sorry for the delay guys" Colleen started as she and Lance returned along with his mother "Allura, a table for seven please."

"Seven?"

"Yes, Hunk, Lance, and yourself will be join the four of us for dinner." Colleen finished.

Both Lance and Allura turned to his mother, to which she nodded her head "Go, I can handle helping guests for a little while."

"Um, alright." The two said in confusion, and with that they all walked to a table big enough to accommodate, everyone getting Hunk as they walked by the kitchen.

Some time after the appetizers, the three left in the dark could not take it any longer and had to know what was going on.

"Okay, so what's the occasion? Shiro is already home, probably resting. So what's this about?" Lance questioned.

"Keith…" Colleen began.

"You may as well just say it now." Pidge finished in a somber tone.

"Seriously, what's going on? You know it's not good to make me worry." Hunk laughed nervously.

"Alright, I'll just say it. Guys, today is the last day we will all get to be together for a while." Keith spoke in a flat tone.

"What?!"  
"What do you mean?"

The only one of the three to not say anything out loud was Lance, then he caught up with the news "Is something wrong?"

"No, it's just- I'm going to be gone for a while. I can't tell you guys anything, but I was at least told I can say goodbye so you won't worry when I just disappear."

"What do you mean. You can't just say something like that." Lance gritted his teeth "We deserve to at least know something."

"I really am not allowed to say anything, it's- well for lack of a better word, it's classified."

"Classified? Like what, like one of your government conspiracies?"

"Lance, I know it doesn't make sense, but I can't tell you anything." Keith finished, hoping his silence told Lance the answer to that last question.

"Fine. I get it. I don't know what came over me." Lance finished as he sat back down, Allura placed a hand on his shoulder.

"How are you taking this Pidge?"

"I know why he has to go, and I get why it is happening. He told me that if I didn't want him to go, then he wouldn't. Just know this is important and I want him to do this, no matter how long it takes. Because I know he needs this. That's it." Pidge answered, in a tone that was even more flat than Keith's opening statement.

"Oh. Okay."

"So how much time is left for you?" Hunk asked.

Keith thought it over in his head "A couple of hours, enough for us all to have one last meal together and maybe a desert too. Then I have to meet the person that I'm going with for a while at mine and Shiro's house."

"Well let's not dwell on this anymore. If Pidge says this is something good for Keith, than it's cause for celebration. Because let's be honest, she knows what's better for Keith than even he does." Lance said with a soft smile on his face.

After their food came out, and they all got refills in their drinks Lance stood up "Guys, I say we make this the cheesiest last meal together we can. So I propose a toast to Keith, though we may not know what the future has in store for him, I'm sure like Pidge said it will be great. To Keith!"

"To Keith!" they all said at once. And with that, they all dug into their food. Pidge and Keith taking bites of the others meal to toy with them. Lance continuing to flirt with Allura, and Allura surprisingly joining him in it. Hunk was carrying two conversations with Colleen and Matt, talking tech to both and throwing recipe ideas to Colleen. But much to their dismay, the time soon came where they had to finish.

"I don't know what's going on, but stay safe out there man." Lance told him before giving a small hug and fist bump to Keith.

"Don't act too stupid while I'm gone. I won't be here to complain at you." Keith said back to him.

"Heheh, no promises man."

"Don't stay away for too long, I doubt even I can keep him in line all alone." Allura laughed as she too gave him a hug.

"I'll be back in no time, and I'll be doing my best to keep in contact with Pidge so keep her updated on stuff so she can keep me updated too."

"Will do." Allura finished her hug with him.

"I really don't know what I can say that probably hasn't been said to you by the others" Hunk started "So just- take care of yourself."

"You got it big guy, and keep Pidge distracted for me will you? Especially for these first few days for her to adjust." Keith whispered to him.

Hunk smiled and nodded in response.

"You guys ready to go?" Keith asked the Holts.

"Yeah, we're going to be cutting it close, it's already four-thirty and you probably still need to gather thing, huh?"

"Yeah, so I guess we shouldn't delay anymore."

* * *

"Keith stay safe okay? You're like another one of my own kids." Colleen hugged him as they all were gathered on the porch.

"Thank you, Colleen for everything. And I'll stay as safe as can be." Keith said back as the embrace ended, the he turned to Matt.

"Going to miss you man, be sure to bring me back a souvenir, okay?" Matt laughed clasping his hand with Keith's before pulling him in for a hug too.

"Sure, how's a pet rock sound?"

Matt gasped "You know me so well."

"Take care of my brother for me, 'kay?" Keith finished before the to stepped back from each other.

"Okay, that's enough you two." An unexpected voice spoke up.

"Shiro? What are you doing here?" Keith said in surprise, then he noticed an old duffle bag was draped over his arm.

"I had to say goodbye to my favorite brother. Besides like I could trust you to pack your own equipment." Shiro said before throwing the bag to Keith's feet.

"Isn't this your old bag Shiro?" Matt said as he recognized it.

Shiro nodded "Yeah, that's the same bag I had with me when I first joined the garrison. Figured Keith could get a little more use out of it."

Keith was in awe, he knew that this bag was one of his brothers favorite keepsakes "Thank you Shiro." He looked up fondly.

Then a black and purple car pulled up.

"He's early, this must be really important to Kolivan. He never breaks his own schedules."

"Sorry for the abrupt arrival, are you ready Keith?" the tall concealed man asked.

"Yeah, one moment." Keith said before turning to Pidge. "Katie?"

"I know what you're going to ask, and yes I'm sure. Don't make me second guess myself other wise I'll ask you to stay." She told him as she hugged him "We- I'm really going to miss you."

Keith hugged her tight "I love you." He told her, before giving her one more kiss. After a moment Keith finally broke the kiss and slowly backed away before getting right next to Kolivan. "Let's go."

"Keep him safe!" Pidge told the tall stranger.

Kolivan turned around to face her before throwing his arm to his chest in a salute "As his mother does, so shall you have my word that I will keep him safe."

With that the two men got into the car, leaving behind his loved one's Keith took one last look back as they drove away. "So what happens now?"

"Now? You train to earn the title of Blade. And to earn your right to wield the same weapon your mother once did."

"Then let's get started."


	3. Chapter 3

"Weeks have passed. Countless hours. Every second of them spent in grueling training. This has been my life for the time I have spent in the Blades. Multiple simulations and tests to gauge if I was ready, yet still I'm not. Every day I somehow fail even though I succeed in the tests until I am on the verge of passing out. But everyday Kolivan just tells me how I failed the true test. But he never tells me what it is!" Keith slammed his fist down onto his metal desk leaving a substantial dent in it. "Like what the hell is this test?"

"I don't know Keith." Pidge answered from the other end of one of the semi-regular video chats they have. "Maybe it's more of an outside the box kind of thing? So why don't you calm down and tell me how they start."

"Okay" Keith took in a deep breath _patience yields focus_ he thought to himself "They start the same way. I begin in a single room, in the first someone comes from a compartment in the floor. I have to best them in combat and afterwords they all say the same thing 'I'm not supposed to go through that door.' But they always point to the only other exit in the room. I go through it and in the next room the amount of enemies doubles. I beat them and they say the same thing, I go through this process over and over. Beating them again and again until I pass out."

"Hm, looks like you still have that hot head of yours." Pidge giggled on the other side of the chat.

"What do you mean?"

"I may not be the best fighter but I have pretty good pattern recognition abilities. I'll tell you this. Get rid of that tunnel vision of yours. Look around. If you still fail tomorrow, I'll tell you what I think you need to do. But might I say, you look pretty good in that outfit." Pidge laughed.

"Fine, I just need to clear my head for a bit. How's everything back home?" He asked yawning and stretching before he stood up to go to his closet. "But you mean this? It's standard Blade gear, but yeah it is pretty cool looking. I could do without the tail on the back though." Keith said in response as he turned around to show off the full outfit.

"You have to remember they were made for full blood Galra though, not you." Pidge smiled at the limp tail sleeve just dangling there. **(Pidge eventually found out the full story about the Blades and Keith's mom when during one of their video calls, one of Keith's commanding officers came in without his mask on. Keith had to apologize a lot for omitting a very important detail like that to Pidge.)**

"True." Keith said as he started taking the gear off and changing into some more relaxing clothes.

"Well, if you weren't fit enough before, HOT DAMN!" Pidge said as she stared at her boyfriend, laughing way too hard for her own amusement.

"You've been spending a lot more time around your brother and Lance here lately, huh?" Keith smiled, blushing from his girlfriends reaction to him.

"What can I say, without you here I need some sort of amusement." She smiled "But to answer your question about how things are going, they are fine. Allura finally let lance take her out on a date, they actually went on a double date with Hunk and Shay to avoid any awkwardness."

"Really? Good for them. I think… how did it go?"

"Surprisingly well actually, Allura called me directly after all excited and flustered. I think something really good will come out of this as long as they both try."

"That's really good to hear, be sure to tell them I'm happy for them, will you please?"

"Sure thing, but you need to get some rest, you have a test to pass tomorrow!" Pidge smiled.

"Thanks Pidge, goodnight."

"Night."

* * *

"Okay Keith, are you ready to begin?" Kolivan asked through an intercom.

"Ready." Keith nodded as he took a stance.

Keith examined the room before the sparring session began looking for anything but he couldn't find it before his opponent arose from the platform. After a short fight he once again heard those words "You are not meant to go through that door." But he ran through none-the-less.

Once again he examined the room and his opponents arose. _Pidge you beautiful genius!_ He thought excitedly before the platform closed, and once again he beat his foes. "No need guys, I figured it out." He said as he went on through the doors. And as he walked in he saw the compartment open and the platforms rise, but before they closed he threw his dagger in one to keep it open "A little outside the box thinking!" he said as he slid under one and into the opening.

He was surprised to see that it wasn't just a small compartment but a long almost slide, and as he went down he found another room, and here was the biggest Blade around.

"You don't deserve that blade! Nor do you deserve to be here!" he charged without warning, but Keith was able to dodge the initial blow.

"Hey! I made it here didn't I? I passed the test, I proved my worth and this is my blade!" Keith shouted as he blocked a slash from his opponent.

"You haven't passed until you've beaten me, and you will NEVER beat me!" the two were in an intense struggle.

Too much time had passed for a normal duel and Keith was starting to wear down, huffing from getting out of breath. "You know what? Maybe you're right, maybe I don't deserve this blade. But it was my mom's, and I'll be the one to give it back!" and at that moment the dagger expanded into a full sword.

"The blade- it's awakened."

Kolivan decamouflaged himself and appeared next to Keth "Congratulations Keith, now you have passed the true test. Your resolve to find your mother, and your acceptance of the situation, it was felt in the blade. Now you are truly a Blade of Marmora."

"Actually Kolivan, there is still one more thing you must do." The other bigger Galra man said, tapping his mask.

"Of course. Keith, the Blades are supposed to be secret, concealed and hidden, to do that you can't be seen." Kolivan placed his hand on Keith's shoulder, and a mask grew around Keith's face. "You're ready to bring your mother back. But first you will need to rest, you have completed our stealth simulators, and our combat exercises, though I wish there were m=time so you could fully master them. There is nothing more we can teach you in preparation for your mission." Kolivan finished as he walked away.

"Um, hey short halfling… sorry for how I was acting back there. I just want you to know that it was all to see if you could make it."

"No hard feelings big guy, but can you tell me how to take this mask off?"

"Oh that? It's connected to your neural sensor at the base of your neck. You just have to think for it to be off and" the big Galras mask dissipated "there you go."

"Haha Pidge would love this kind of tech. But okay, just think you want it off and…" Keith's mask disappeared as well. "Wow!"

"Impressive, huh? Took our crews in the lab thirteen years to perfect it. It also has a carbon dioxide to oxygen filtration system, that way if you're ever in a jam where you couldn't breathe otherwise you'll still be able to survive."

"This is stuff straight out of science fiction, can't wait to see her reaction when she learns about all of this." Keith said as he walked out, summoning and removing his mask until it became second nature for him. As he walked down the halls he managed to bump in Kolivan again.

"Keith. What can I do for you? I see you have gained control over your mask."

"I just wanted to ask about the mission. I know it's to find my mom, but I don't know her. How will I recognize her when I go to find her?"

"First, she'll recognize you. Not only by your outfit, but she's kept small tabs on you for most of your life. She knows what you look like, she wanted to at least know her son a little for when she got the chance to meet you."

Keith smiled, he could not believe that his mom still watched over him all these years, even though she was not directly with him. "Thanks, Kolivan."

"Don't thank me yet, we still need to get her back. Now, I will remind you when you are actually sent, but your mask is equipped with a HUD, this will provide you with intel and guide you towards your rendezvous with her."

"Alright, if you need me, I'll be in my quarters." Keith finished the conversation as he walked away, eager to tell Pidge all of the good news.

* * *

 _C'mon pick up Pidge, pick up, pick up._ Keith thought to himself all giddy, and after what felt like forever of watching the little circle spinning, there was finally an answer "Finally!" the boy spoke excitedly "What took so long?"

Pidge just stared at him blankly before gesturing to her entire body, there she was covered in sweat and oil stains in a black tank-top "Sorry but I was working on something, plus I had to run all the way from the garage to here." She laughed before sitting down. "How'd the test go?"

"If I were there, I'd kiss you, you beautiful genius."

"That doesn't answer the question. You'd kiss me either way."

"Well I beat the true test, you were right, I just needed to look around. So I had to take the same platforms the came from."

"I knew you could do it, so does that mean you guys are going to go get your mom now?"

"Yeah" Keith started "I head out tomorrow, I don't know if this can be done in a day. Or if it will take a while, so this may be the last you here from me in a bit."

"Okay…"

"Hey, chin up. Look at it this way, once we get her, I can come back home. Besides, I know something that will get you excited."

"Oh-" she was cut off when he summoned his mask and then made it disappear. "Holy cow! What is that, nanotech?"

"I think so" Keith smiled at her excitement "and it's also connected to this neural sensor here on the back." He said as he turned around pointing at the sensor on his neck.

"Oh my god! I need it, screw Matt's souvenir, bring me that when you come home!"

"I figured you would say that but tell me what you're working on." He said as he rested his elbow on the desk and his head on his hand.

"Well it's a surprise for when you come back home, but trust me you're going to love it!"

"If it's something from you than of course I will. Hey there's something I have to-" Keith was cut off by Kolivan throwing his door open.

"Keith, we just got emergency intel from Krolia. We're sending you out now!"

"Okay, Pidge I have to go I love you." He said as he shut it off before she could even reply.

Pidge kept on trying to call back, she wanted to say goodbye properly to him before he had to go, but much to her dismay there was no answer. No matter how many times she tried to call back. "Stay safe emo…" she whispered to herself.

* * *

"What do I need to know?"

"Just minutes ago, Krolia contacted us for the first time in over a month. She informed us that she was starting to get suspected and had to lay low. But that simple explanation is not the important part. The group she was sent to investigate call themselves The Empire, they give Galra a bad reputation and only believe in cruelty and strength, they would wipe out anyone that is not them. Krolia just told us they now believe they have access to a limitless pool of quintessence, a form of energy which would allow them to conquer and destroy anything they so pleased." Kolivan explained as they made their way to secret hangar Keith had not even been shown yet, and in the hangar was a craft he did not recognize.

"What's that?"

"We don't have a name for it yet, but it has stealth capabilities similar to your suit, and can travel faster than any other aircraft on record."

"Nice. I'm sure she and I will be out in no time."

"We can't land it and just leave it where the enemy can find it, we will airdrop you in. you will extract Krolia, and you and she will hike to the rendezvous."

"Okay, then let's go get my mom and get back here."

* * *

"Sir! Less than three minutes out!" the pilot shouted to Kolivan who stood over Keith.

"Okay, one last time. Get in, your masks HUD will allow us to stay in contact and it will guide you to where Krolia will be waiting, the two of you will then escape and meet us."

"Got it!" Keith said as he opened the door ready to jump out.

"One more thing Keith! Do not draw attention to yourself, do your best to not take down any one from The Empire, if they suspect a thing we won't be able to get you out of there!" Kolivan shouted over the rushing wind. All he got in response was a smile and thumbs up from Keith before he summoned his mask and dove out of the open door.

As Keith descended towards the ground he remembered about Kolivan talking about gliding capabilities, so he threw his arms to his sides, thought of glider suit wings and threw his arms out again. The sudden jerk from the air resistance was a bit jarring but once he got his bearings Keith yelled out in excitement as he slowly glided to the ground.

Once he had landed on the outskirts of the base, he slowly made his way onto the grounds. "Kolivan, I'm in." he whispered into his masks communicator.

"Good. Your masks HUD, should lead you to the meet. It will also tell you the amount of time you have in the window."

Keith looked and saw he had a five minute window "Okay, initiating radio silence and stealth capabilities now." With that he shut off his radio and followed the path laid before him. As he made his way through the base he found the final destination, what seemed to be a barren room. He wanted to call out but he knew better, so he just walked in and began to think what he would say when he finally met her. Then he was slammed up against a wall with a hand around his throat.

"Funny thing about these suits" he heard a female voice say "the stealth isn't perfect if you know what you're looking for." He could feel the hand lifting him off the ground slowly, he knew Galra were strong but this was the first time outside of sparring he truly felt the strength of one. "Aren't you a little small to be a Blade?"

Keith could not think of any other thing aside from the idea of removing his mask to try and bite the assailant's hand so he would have a fighting chance. So, he dropped the stealth and dissipated his mask to go for the bite "Keith?" he heard the woman call out.

Then she dropped him to the ground "Oh my- is that really you?" he looked up seeing the unknown woman kneeling down to his level, she gasped "You're you…"

"Y-you're Krolia? You're my mom" Keith was able to choke out before he coughed.

"I'm so sorry, I just figured with how easily I noticed you, you were a double agent… I nearly crushed your larynx!" she hugged him tightly "This- this isn't how I wanted you to meet me for the first time…" Krolia whispered out. "What are you even doing here?"

"K-Kolivan brought me in as a Blade to bring you back, he said you always wanted me to join." Keith explained as he sat there awkward, not really knowing what to do with a hug from his mom for the first time.

"I did, but I wanted to bring you in. Kolivan should be here instead, this is a high-stakes assignment and he knew that." Krolia growled standing up to look in the hallways to make sure they were still safe.

"What do you mean? It's just a simple extraction, right?"

"That may have been the original plan, but it's changed. We need to shut this operation down. The Empire has done more than just discover quintessence, I heard the lead scientists talking about doing experiments with some place where time is irrelevant, apparently there you can be gone for years and it will just be weeks here. Or vice-versa, they plan to use it to age up soldiers for their cause." Krolia finished explaining.

"Okay, how do we stop it?" Keith asked.

"We?"

"Yes, we. If The Empire is as dangerous a group as you and Kolivan have made them out to be we have to stop them here, I have loved ones I need to protect out there." He finished, his face like stone.

"Keith, one mess up and things go south. I lost you once, I can't lose you again."

"We won't lose each other. But I am more than willing to put myself on the line to protect Pidge and the others."

"Pidge… that is the nickname of yours and Shirogane's neighbor, correct? Why say her specifically but not the rest of your friends?"

"Not the time, Krolia."

She almost winced at the sound of him calling her by her name, sure she did not expect him to call her mother or mom, she knew she had not earned that yet. But it still hurt her. "Okay then, we can talk later. But if we are doing this, we'll need to blow this place sky high. There's an armory, we can take some equipment, go to R&D, retreat to a safe distance, and finish the job."

"Lead the way." Keith said as he reactivated his mask and camouflage.

The two walked down the corridors, Krolia side-eyeing the barely visible silhouette of her son. So many thoughts ran through others head, but both afraid to speak their minds, and neither because of the environment they were in.

Once the two gathered some explosives they rushed off to plant them.

* * *

"Something isn't right here… shouldn't there be scientists? Guards? Someone around here making sure people like us can't do this?"

"It is rather strange…" Krolia began as they finished planting the explosives.

"Not really, traitor!" A large Galra man shouted.

"Trugg." Krolia growled, baring her teeth.

"So Krolia, who is the runt you have hidden behind you?" Trugg asked, aiming a very large gun at the two.

"No one, at least no one of concern for a dead man." Krolia then armed the explosives pressing down on the detonator "I lift my finger, we all die. You shoot at him, I lift my finger. Got it?" She threatened.

Truggs confidence left his face immediately and was replaced by fear "You wouldn't dare."

"Krolia…?"

"I told you earlier Keith, I lost you once. I will never lose you again, now follow me." The woman commanded as she walked onto a platform with her son in tow "You said you'd do anything to protect those people right? What if you may never see them again?"

"That's fine as long as they are safe." Keith said reaffirming her.

"Good, as long as you are committed." She smiled before yelling at one of the other Galra men with Trugg "You! Activate it, right now."

"Please" Trugg laughed "You go in there, without a real plan, you'll be there forever."

Krolia flinched her arm to bluff Trugg "Keith, when the portal opens up jump in. I swear I'll be right behind you."

"O-okay." Keith nodded.

"Now, start it up! Or I'll blow us all to Hell!"

Within moments a large portal opened up "I'm trusting you." Keith said as he stepped in.

"So what's your plan now Krolia? Leave the boy to suffer on his own while we kill you here and now?"

"Funny thing that" Krolia began as she slowly stepped backwards never breaking eye contact with Trugg "I figured, I'll let you all die. And I go in there with my son." Krolia then lifted her finger off the trigger.

"NO-!" was all she heard before she jumped through the portal with explosions going off all around her.

* * *

Kolivan was listening in through the intercoms on Keith and Krolia, though there was some interference that didn't allow him "Have we isolated the source of the interference?"

"No sir, it seems it is a problem on our end. We probably will not be able to fix it until we land sir." A Blades communication officer responded.

"Wait, what are they saying?"

Kolivan focused in on what Krolia said to her son "Keith, when- jump-. I swear I'll be right behind you."

"No!" Kolivan shouted at parts of the communications cutting out "No Krolia dammit! What is she thinking? Turn us around we have to evacuate them ourselves!" the airship flew at highspeeds to the base and as they approached, they began to hear more and more of the conversation.

"So what's your plan now Krolia? Leave the boy to suffer on his own while we kill you here and now?" he heard Trugg taunt.

"What's taking us so long?"

"Funny thing that… I figured, I'll let you all die. And I go- with my son."

And as they approached, they finally managed to close the distance enough to where he thought that they'd make it in time, when the explosion finally went off. "No! Bring us in!"

"Sir we can't. theres too much debris, and the base is in high alert."

"Fine!" Kolivan opened the door "I'll meet you at the rendezvous point myself." He said as he jumped out and glided right into the smoke so he can land directly at the point of the explosions.

"Keith! Krolia! Come in!" he shouted into the comm link in his mask, with no response. "Keith! Krolia!"

Hours later Kolivan arrived back to the aircraft "Let's go."

"Sir?"

"I said let's go agent."

"Affirmitive, route set back to homebase."

"No, we have a family to talk to." He finished solemnly, his face as expressionless as stone.

"Yes- yes sir."

* * *

As Krolia opened her eyes on the other side she saw Keith lying on the ground struggling to breathe "Keith!?" Krolia panicked running over to son. She could not figure out what was going on with him, she herself could breathe just fine. Then she realized that Keith's mask was not fully intact, and since he was practically on the verge of suffocation he couldn't focus enough to try and have it repair itself.

"Keith, if you can hear me, you have to focus son! The fact that you are a hybrid is the only reason you are able to survive right now. Just focus on that fact, and you can make it."

Keith's eyes flashed yellow much to his mothers surprise, he began thrashing wildly for a moment before taking a deep breath in "Patience" he huffed "yields… focus."

Krolia hugged her son "Thank goodness, I was worried your human half wouldn't let you adapt… I know I haven't earned the right to act like a mother, but will you please let me work to earn that title?"

Keith finally reciprocated the hug from her for the first time, which surprised Krolia "Kolivan told me that you would keep tabs on me. That you would watch over me from a distance, as far as I'm concerned you were a mother. Just in the way you determined was best. You left to fulfill the mission, I understand that."

"You're wrong, I didn't leave for the mission. I left to protect you. In the same way you left to protect 'Pidge'." Krolia smiled at that last part stressing the girls nickname, causing Keith to sigh "Considering you and I will be here for a while, mind if a mother pries a bit? You said it wasn't the time earlier but, no better time than now, right?" she smirked.

"Since you've been on this assignment for so long, you probably didn't know, but Pidge and I have been dating for a few weeks now."

"Ha, took you long enough." Krolia laughed surprising Keith "With how much you two are together, I was worried you'd be stuck in the friend-zone forever."

"Ugh- mom!" Keith said in an exaggerated fashion.

"What? Honestly at this point she could've just said you were like a brother to her because you took so long."

"Well sorry but I understandably have commitment issues… up until today I was convinced you left me just because you didn't want me. Not because you loved me so much you had to leave to protect me."

Krolias smile faltered for a second, and she looked down "I'm sorry Keith, I truly am. You have no idea how much I regret having to miss out on your first steps… Your first words… Your first- first-" Krolia began to tear up, looking away from her son.

Keith felt terrible he didn't mean to make his mom feel guilty. "Sorry, it was wrong of me to bring that up. I know it was just as hard for you to leave me and dad, as it was for me to not have you." Keith let out a small sigh "I wish he could be here to see you again… he used to call you an angel, most beautiful woman he'd ever seen." Keith smiled thinking back on his father.

"I wish he could be here too, I wish I could've been there for you when he passed. You having to go through that on your own, I can't imagine it."

"But you're here now, so let's make the most of it. Yeah?" Keith finished, placing his hand on her shoulder.

"Yeah. Speaking of here, we should probably start finding a way out. But before that we need to build a shelter. According to all of the data The Empires scientists compiled, it can get to be a rather harsh environment depending where and when we are in here."

* * *

Pidge was sitting on her roof, staring at the stars, wishing Keith were there with her _Like the good ol' days._ She thought smiling to herself. That's when she heard knocking coming from below her at her front door. It sounded frantic but also like the one knocking was not trying to cause too much alarm. "Shiro? What's the matter man?" she heard her brother say.

Shiro put a finger too his mouth and whispered "Where's Katie?" it was obvious to anyone with eyes that Shiro was worrying over something.

Matt was confused, to say the least, about all the secrecy but whispered back "Up on the roof stargazing. What's wrong?"

"I'll say inside, she can't hear this right now." Shiro whispered one final time as he walked in, and to his surprise Colleen was still awake, sitting in a recliner and watching TV.

"Shiro, what brings you here at this hour?"

"Somethings wrong with Keith!" Shiro dropped the façade and let out a small panic. "Kolivan, the man Keith left with, just called me and he said he would be here soon to discuss something. He also said to have all Keith's loved ones gathered. I- I don't know what I'd do if something happened to that kid…"

"No…" Colleen let out a small whisper, the edges of her eyes tearing up. She loved Keith like another son. To hear something might have happened to him, it truly made her feel sad, almost as much as when she learned of Matt and Sams injuries and disappearance on the trip all that time ago.

Matt was not holding up so well either, but he knew that he'd have to stay strong for once. He knew that when his little sister heard about this, that he'd have to care for his mom, Shiro, and her all at once. "Have you called the others?"

"Yea- yeah, at first Lance wasn't too happy but he came around, either from the sound of my voice or he was just curious. Allura and Hunk didn't question it, they both said they'd be here as fast as they can."

"Should we go get Katie now?" Colleen asked.

"I don't know mom, I think we need to wait for everyone else to get here first, she'll need the support of everyone if something truly is wrong…"

With that the three waited inside in silence for the others to arrive, Pidge herself was starting to doze off on the roof, practically forgetting about Shiro's frantic knocking. Dismissing it as him just being an over-worrying guardian needing to be calmed down. But as she was on the verge of falling completely unconscious, she heard a car door close. Then another. And finally, one last slam of a door. At this point her curiosity overrode her desire to sleep, and she climbed down from the roof to walk inside.

She was beyond confused at the sight laid before her. With all of her friends, mother, and brother gathered in the living room. "What's going on?"

"We don't know." Lance answered, glaring at Shiro. "Shiro here called us all and said we need to meet up. No other info."

Pidge then turned to the taller 'gane brother "Shiro?" she started already having a feeling as what might be the problem, and it was her greatest fear. "Don't make me ask if it's something I should worry about…"

"Katie, I-" he was cut off by the front door opening, there stood Kolivan, as stone faced as ever. Yet, there was something hidden behind his expression.

"I'm sorry to have gathered you all here at this hour." He started before Lance chimed in.

"Um- who's this guy?"

"He's the reason Keith had to leave." Pidge said coldly, staring daggers at Kolivan.

"Before, I say what I came to say, you three need to know why I took him with me. You deserve to know the whole story." Kolivan finished.

In a short time, he managed to explain all the information required for them to understand, along with the two Holts that were also left in the dark. Lance was confused about the whole secret government organization, Allura was shocked to hear about the fact Keith was in fact half Galra. Hunk sat there quietly, soaking in all the information and thinking through each part logically.

And the whole time he sat there explaining everything to the others, Pidge had one thought going through her mind, and when he finished, she finally spoke up.

"Where is Keith?"

"As you specifically know, he was sent to extract his mother from her last mission. When they finally managed to meet up, Krolia told him she had one last objective. To destroy the base of The Empire. Apparently they were able to harness a limitless pool of quintessence, something they could not be allowed to keep."

"Quintessence? Quintessence is just a theoretical source of energy, it's not rea-" Allura began in a rather defensive tone, but was cut off by Pidge.

"I said, wherRE IS KEITH?!" Pidge shouted, tears forming at her eyes, she marched over to the large man "TELL ME WHERE HE IS YOU BASTARD!" she screamed, hitting his chest over and over. Though Kolivan was unphased by the impact, he still hurt from witnessing her in sadness.

"I- I'm sorry. I gave you my word that I would keep him safe." He put his hand on the young girls shoulder, though she still continued hitting him "I failed to keep my promise to you. The only way they were able to stop The Empire from having limitless quintessence was to blow up the machine that gave them access to it."

"No-" Lance spoke softly.

"Oh my God…" Allura whispered in shock.

"Keith's, Keith's dead?" Hunk barely chocked out the words.

"YOU FUCKING BASTARD! I TOLD YOU TO KEEP HIM SAFE!" Pidge cried out, her arms finally getting weak from all the hitting. "I- you were supposed to keep him safe… he was supposed to come back to me."

"I'm truly sorry." Kolivan said, taking his arm off her shoulder. "I searched the site myself, there was no body. Neither from him, nor from his mother. It's most likely that-" Kolivan cut himself off, knowing that finishing the sentence would only make things worse. "I'm sorry, for your loss everyone. From the short time I knew him, Keith was a good soldier. And a good man."

Kolivan then made his way outside, regretfully leaving the everyone to grieve alone. But he knew he was not needed. And very much unwanted.

Matt walked over to his little sister, who was sobbing on the ground "Katie I-" she ran off into the garage. The others wanted to follow her, but they didn't, not for a while. Not until they heard her screaming once more with loud crashes going around in there.

"YOU LIAR!" she shouted throwing multiple pet projects of hers to the ground before she finally got to the gift she was going to surprise Keith with. There, right in front of her, was a suit of armor matching hers only red instead of green. She then took a sledge hammer to the helmet, barely cracking the glass on impact. She knew how strong it was, but she didn't care.

"YOU LIED TO ME!" she took another swing at the helmet.

"YOU PROMISED TO COME HOME TO ME!" another swing.

"NO MATTER HOW LONG IT TOOK!" yet another, the glass finally breaking.

"YOU- you left me forever now…" her voice going hoarse, she let out one last swing, missing the helmet completely, slamming directly into the concrete of the garage.

"Katie-" Matt started, she turned around to face him, eyes red and huffing, but she finally went in for the hug her brother offered "I'm sorry."

She could no longer speak, her voice shot from all her crying, she just nuzzled into her brothers chest "What am I supposed to do?" she forced out, straining as she did so.

"Just rest, we'll all be here for you in the morning. Just rest for now." The others gathered around the two siblings, Shiro himself crying before Matt pulled him into their hug as well.

 _I'm sorry you guys…_ Matt thought to himself, finally letting out a small tear for his lost friend.


	4. Chapter 4

Keith sat around a small makeshift campfire, nearly two weeks had gone by in this place, two weeks. _What about pidge? I haven't talked to her in so long that she probably is starting to worry by now._ He thought to himself. He completely forgot the rules of the place his mother had told him when they first arrived here.

"Keith, honey?"

"Wha-" he said snapping out of his train of thought "Yeah mom?" he smiled after saying that, it didn't sound strange but at the same time it was not fully natural to him yet.

"I know this place can be stressful, but please don't make it more so by falling into the fire. We only have the limited number of medical supplies stored in both our suits. If something catastrophic happens, we won't be able to get help."

"You're right, sorry I was just thinking."

"About Katie again, right?" Krolia asked.

"Yeah" Keith began "We've been gone for so long… what if she thinks something is really wrong?"

"Son, we've been here for one- almost two- weeks. But that time spent here? It's only been a day, maybe two tops, over there. She'll be fine for the time being, but us on the other hand?" Krolia stopped looking down as her stomach growled "If we don't find some more food soon, we'll starve to death before we even think of finding a way back."

"Do you really think there is a way?" Keith doubted.

Krolia kept silent, looking down and thinking, not wanting to face what seems to be a much more realistic, much harsher reality. So she did what mothers do, and she comforted her son "I know we'll think of something eventually." She put on a smile, acting brave for her son. "Now go hunting, there should be some form of wildlife around here. At least according to The Empires scientists."

"Alright, I'll be back soon."

With that, Keith took his Marmora blade and walked off. Waiting for any sign of a chance for survival. As he kept walking, after nearly half an hour, he heard a very low growl. He looked around scanning the environment, but he couldn't see anything. But he did hear it, and that was enough. He drew his blade, closed his and waited "Patience yields focus." After a moment of no noise at all he heard a bark come from right in front of his face, he quickly slashed, and after feeling him stab into something he opened his eyes.

There in front of him appeared to be a large, black and blue wolf-like creature. It was huge, _If we cook this right this can last us maybe a whole week._ Keith thought, but deep down he felt bad for the poor creature, there it was breathing heavily, Keith could see fear in its eyes as it looked away from him and into a different direction. Keith decided to put it out of misery and cut into it again so it would pass faster.

After examining it, it appeared to be a female wolf. But Keith felt like something was wrong, and followed the direction it last looked towards. And as he walked, he heard a small whimper, there in front of him was a much smaller wolf. A pup. And then Keith realized what he had done, he just orphaned this pup in frnt of him my killing its mother. Keith was horrified at his own actions.

"What am I going to do?" he asked himself aloud "You can't survive on your own." The pup cocked its head to its side. Obviously not comprehending what Keith was saying, though it seemed mesmerized by his presence since there really is no other creature like a human in this environment. "Come on Wolf, I'll take you. It's my fault your moms gone, I was intruding on a mothers territory. She saw me as a threat to you and I killed her." The boy said as he scooped up the puppy into his arms. "So, you're a boy. Eh, Wolf?" Keith took off his hood and placed it in there. "I can't let you see what I did to your mother…"

Keith carried the wolf pup in his hood in one hand and threw the much bigger mother wolf over his shoulder, carrying them both all the way back to the camp. It took time, and his muscles nearly gave out. But he did eventually make it.

"Keith!" Krolia spoke "I was beginning to worry, you'd been gone for a while. Here let me take that." She said as she effortlessly took the bigger wolf and carried it another ten feet or so, barely breaking a sweat as she tossed it next to the fire. _Will I be that strong?_ He thought. "Why'd you take off your hood, got something else in there?"

"In a sense, yes." He said as he peaked open the hood to show that the pup curled itself into a ball and fell asleep. "Apparently, I intruded on it's territory. The mother must've thought I was a threat to her pup and went after me. I killed her before I found this little guy. I'm taking responsibility for it, he won't survive out there without his mom."

Krolia was surprised with how sympathetic Keith was acting, the she let out a small smirk, which then turned into a light chuckle. "You're so much like your father. He hated killing animals of any kind. Hated hunting, everything. The closest he got to that was fishing, and that was only every now and then."

"Yeah." Keith smiled fondly, remembering how his father would take him fishing every now and then. But then he broke from his thoughts, "How fast can you cook that? I don't want this pup here seeing it."

Krolia examined it and thought it over "It will take time with how big it his, but at the same time that's also a good thing because we'll be able to survive long enough to form a plan to get out."

"Form?" Keith thought out loud.

"Yes… for-" Krolia began before she was cut off.

"Form! Oh my god! I have a plan, sort of."

"What is it?"

"First, we need to gather any tech we can salvage up, then… then we call the smartest girl on Earth." Keith smirked.

* * *

Pidge awoke in her room, she could not remember how she got there, the last thing she remembered was crying in her brothers and Shiros arms. But why was she crying? "Keith!" she croaked out, her voice still hoarse from all the screaming the previous night. She ran into the living room, to see that all of her friends were still there, as if waiting for her.

Shiro's eyes were red, he had obviously cried last night along with her. Along with Allura, and her mother. Hunk was wiping his nose, it seemed as though he was just now accepting the news himself. Matt was the only one standing, caring for each individual person, with no visible signs of him crying, deep down she was thankful for how strong he was acting for everyone else. But then there was Lance, Lance looked like he was in shock. He held his hands up to his mouth, staring blankly at the floor. Allura attempted to comfort him, but it seemed as though even she could not bring him out of it. "Is he really gone?"

Pidge was shocked at those words, she was not expecting to hear those words, especially from herself. They all looked up at her, bar one, each one wanting to get up to move towards her. But all of them feeling to heavy to actually do it.

"I've lost my best friend, haven't I?" she said, once again scaring herself with the reality of the situation. And once again, all the others could do was look at her. She moved past them all, going to the garage. She was horrified at the sight of what she did to his gift from her, it was the last thing of his she had, and she nearly destroyed it beyond repair.

She gathered it up and placed it in a small corner next to something she had completely forgotten existed. She grabbed the device, walking outside from the garage.

* * *

Days had passed, those days turned into two weeks, and in that time it was nothing but silence to her. No birds chirping, flies buzzing, leaves rustling. Nothing. And she didn't mind it.

"I figured I'd find you up here. Your mom says you barely ever come down from here, not even to eat. She says that you were forced to eat dinner a few times?"

"Please go away, Lance." Pidge asked fiddling with the old machine on her roof. "This is where he and I would go to be alone… now I guess I really will be alone up here."

"Can I please stay up here with you?" Lance pleaded "I- know you two were far closer than he and I was, but he was my best friend too… As much as we hated on each other, we both bounced off each other too. I know this was y'alls spot. But I want to be here with you two, for just this time. Then I promise I'll never come up here again."

"He thought the same way." Pidge started, ceasing the toying of the machine "About you, he would constantly complain about you, but there was admiration in it at the same time." She smiled thinking back of some of the times Keith would go on a rant about Lance "I'd tease him with how he'd talk about you so much I was worried he leave me for you." She laughed, looking at the Cuban boy.

"You're joking right?" he laughed sitting down next to her.

"Obviously he'd make a disgusted expression and then he'd say he'd never leave me." She sighed looking back down at the machine "Guess he lied about that last bit, huh?"

"You know what's weird?" Lance said "It truly doesn't feel like he's gone. Does it for you?"

"I really can't tell anymore. I can't tell if it's me hoping he's still alive, or me truly believing he is."

Then the machine made a slight static sound but she paid no real attention to it as she messed with the dial.

"What is that anyways?" Lance questioned.

"Keith and I made this years ago, it was supposed to be a communicator that could reach the far reaches of the galaxy. We built it to so we could prove aliens exist. Obviously, it didn't work, but that's probably because we built it to have our own frequency that we created ourselves. We called it the 'in-between frequency'." She laughed "It was a stupid name, but we were kids. Y'know?"

"Yeah, I know."

As she repeatedly toyed with the dial, she began to think she heard something in the static. But then she realized something, this device isn't supposed to have static. It was literally created with one purpose in mind.

She began to spin the dial back and forth faster and faster "F-rm… V-ltr-n…"

"Do you hear that?" she asked incredulously.

"No… it just sounds like static that's fading in and out."

"That's the thing Lance! It can't have static! Not unless it's TRYING to pick up something, this device was made to pick up stuff any other device couldn't."

"Are you insinuating that your little toy here is picking up alien communication?" Lance said in a confused manner "I think you need to rest Pidge, you-"

"FORM… VOLTRON!" the machine shouted, but not just any shout, it sounded nearly identical to Keith in every way.

"Did that thing just say 'Form Voltron!'?" Lance asked.

"Yeah it did!"

* * *

 **(A/N: the * will represent the start of a flashback since Italics are reserved for thoughts, and Bold is reserved for… well Author's Notes like this one.)**

*What is a 'Voltron'?" Krolia asked as Keith tampered with this makeshift machine of his.

"It's an old game we all used to play as kids, 'The Defenders of The Universe!' we'd call it. Originally it was Shiro being the field leader, myself as his second, Pidge, Lance, and Hunk as our teammates. With Allura being our 'scout for missions' she'd always be the 'castle' with her god-father Coran watching over us. But when Shiro got older and he started dating Adam, he became the Captain of the crew of the Atlas. A bigger stronger version of Voltron. Meaning he was no longer 'out in the field' which let him have his personal time." Keith then slapped his makeshift machine real fast.

"Then I became the field leader, Lance became my second, Pidge stayed were she was, Allura took Lance's old spot, and Hunk kept his spot as well."

Krolia smiled, she loved getting to hear stories about her sons childhood. Stories she wished she could have witnessed take place herself.

"I'm setting the message to play on loop, on a frequency she and I created specifically for the two of us. If she ever even thinks about looking at that frequency, she'll hear it." Keith smiled.*

Months had passed since he first started it, but he knew that time here and time there were basically incompatible, so it could take a while for her to even suspect something was wrong. But if she did, IF she ever did, she'd find his message and know he's okay.

"Keith?" Krolia shouted from down below "We're running low on food. Can you and Wolf go for a quick hunt?"

"Yeah mom! Be right there!" he shouted back "Come on boy, let's go down." He said as he placed a hand on the now much bigger wolfs back, as they teleported down to his mothers side. Then Krolia tilted her head to the side. "What's the matter mom?"

"Your hair is getting to long, it's going to get in the way, turn around." She told him as she ripped a small piece of cloth off her sleeve, Keith obliged her and turned around, his mom then tied his hair into a pony-tail with the cloth. "I may be biased because you're my son, but I generally think men aren't good with long hair. It suits you. Once we get back, you'll knock Kaitlyn off her feet." She laughed looking into her sons now yellow eyes, they had been that way for months, ever since they first got here in fact.

"Thanks mom" Keith chuckled as he grabbed the knife from the ground "C'mon boy, let's go get some food."

The wolf barked in excitement as he teleported around Keith multiple time.

 _Katie is going to love you when she sees you._

* * *

"He's alive!" Pidge shouted as she ran into the house out of breath, Lance close behind her.

Colleen and Matt ran into the living room "What? What are you talking about?" Matt asked.

"Keith's alive! I got a message from him!" she kept saying in excitement.

"Katie, I know how hard it is to accept stuff, I still hope your father is alive. But Kolivan searched the area personally he said so himself, and he found no traces of them…"

"Not here mom, he's somewhere else! I know it." Pidge told her, her voice filled with emothion and confidence. Colleen was skeptical, but at the same time this is the first time her daughter had smiled since Keith 'passed'. So she could not help but feel hopeful that she was right.

"Okay, where's the proof? Matt go get Shiro, if there's a chance Keith is alive, he'll wanna know. While you're at it, call Allura and Hunk over too."

"Got it mom!" Matt said happily as he ran next door texting the other two to come over ASAP as he got Shiro.

"Takashi?" Matt asked as he entered the now dark house "Shiro, you in here?" then after a moment he saw a small purple light glowing, he recognized it as the hand from the prosthetic Shiro was given. He then walked over to Shiro tripping on multiple bottles as he approached, "Shiro? How much have you been drinking these past few days?" Matt asked, waking the other man.

"Not enough… I'm still crying over my brother being dead. It's my fault he's dead you know. I could have tried and forced him to stay, to not go with Kolivan. But I failed." Shiro said slurring as he reached for another bottle on the floor.

Matt felt deep pain, he had never seen his best friend this way, he's never seen him even drink more than a few beers at a party. But this was something else entirely.

"Shiro… I don't want to lie to you, but I also don't want to get your hopes up. There may be a chance Keith is alive. Katie truly thinks she got a message from him."

"Wai- what?" Shiro perked up his eyes shooting open wide, trying to focus "Keith may be alive? What are we waiting for let's go see what Pidge has."

"Slow down there buddy, first off you're black out drunk. I'm going to need to take things easy for me okay? Second we also need to give Allura and Hunk time to get here too." Matt finished as he helped Shiro to his feet, as they walked next door.

After a few minutes passed both Allura and Hunk arrived in their cars and they walked up to the front porch where Matt was waiting "What is it? We were told to get here ASAP."

"Okay, I'm going to say the same to you that I told Shiro, Katie thinks she got a message from Keith, and thinks he's still alive. We can't get our hopes up yet, because only Katie and Lance have heard it. And aside from Takashi, they took his passing the hardest, so they may not be in the right mind set."

"Okay, we'll keep our expectations tempered." Hunks said as they all walked in.

And inside they saw a positively beaming Pidge and Lance with a device between the two of them.

"Is that what I think it is?" Hunk asked hesitantly, already fearing that they were mislead because of the origins of the machine.

"Yes, but don't let it fool you. There's real proof."

"Okay so for those of us that don't know, what is that?" Shiro asked, drinking coffee.

Pidge nodded her head and began to explain "Keith and I built this device a long time ago, it's original purpose was for us to prove aliens exist. But for us to truly prove they were real, and no one could mess with us we created our own unique frequency."

"Oh the in-between frequency!" Matt and Hunk smiled at the same time, Shiro just laughing and shaking his head.

"I remember that, Keith was on Cloud 9 that he got to actually build something with you, let alone create some brand new means of communicating." Shiro chuckled then it hit him "Wait, the in-between frequency, let's just call it IBF for now, it is its own means of communicating, only you two and 'higher life-forms' could use it. Does that mean you heard something through that?"

"Yeah! Just listen everyone. Ready Lance?"

"Boot it up! Let's get to work on bringing Keith home." He smiled.

She nodded and turned the machine on, repeatedly turning the dial back and forth until she got what she was waiting for "F-m… Vlt-n… F-RM… V-LTRN… FORM VOLTRON!" she finally got it to come through clearly.

"Was that-? Did he really-?"

"That cheesy dork really used our childhood playtime to call us to him!?" Allura laughed.

"Yeah he did, and now we just gotta find him but with my tech here I can't even attempt to track him. And the garrison won't just let us use their tech for the day…" Pidge started frowning.

"I think I know a guy who will be more than willing to try and save Keith and his mom." Shiro smiled as he pulled out his phone.

* * *

Kolivan quickly arrived in a small airship, "What do you have for me?" he asked very clearly trying to hide the excitement he may be able to pay for his transgressions.

"It's what you have for all of us." Pidge said standing in front of the others holding the machine with a cocky smile on her face. "You're going to help us save my boyfriend."

Kolivan smirked, impressed by the young girls attitude, "All of you, hop on." He told them as they all loaded up, Colleen decided to stay behind and watch over both houses.


	5. Chapter 5

After flying at insane speeds they made it to the Blades HQ. Kolivan summoned all of the Blades in one area to meet them. "Agents! These here guests are VIPs, I owe them a great debt and so we are going to help them, that debt just so happens to be getting back two of our own. You will help them with what ever they need, is that clear!" he shouted, obviously not meaning it as a question.

"Ms Holt, what do you need of us?" Kolivan asked.

"Who are the heads of your tracking and communications divisions?" she asked, not specifically to Kolivan but to everyone.

"Agents Mika and Zet! Step forward." With that a relatively small Galra female and an average built Galra male walked up.

"How can we be of service?" they said at the same time.

"I'll give you the short version, a while back Keith and I created a brand new frequency, this device picks up on that frequency. Use it to set your tech accordingly for any updates in the message since it seems to be on loop, and to track his location if you can."

"Yes ma'am." They said in unison, you could tell they were professionals, either that or they were close partners, seeing as their steps were even in sync with each other. They summoned the other members of their divisions and they all walked away together.

"What else Ms. Holt?" Kolivan asked.

"Until we can find him, I won't need more help. Once we have his location, then I'll require more assistance." She said flatly.

"Agents, you are dismissed back to your stations. Except you five, wait here a moment." He ordered as everyone but five Blades scattered away "Is there anything I can help any of you out with, personally?"

"May I check out your medical bay? I have a feeling once we find Keith he will need something, and no offense but I've been one of the three people to nurse him in his life, and I fear you will not be up to snuff." Allura said snidely to the large Galra man.

Kolivan ignored her tone and, while never breaking eye contact with Allura, pointed to a seemingly (to the others) random Blade. "Take her to the MedBay."

"Sir." The masked figure saluted Kolivan, "This way ma'am."

"Yes, uh can I maybe see your cafeteria or kitchen areas, and after that maybe R&D?" Hunk asked nervously.

Kolivan once again just pointed to the seemingly correct Blade who then took Hunk to his preferred destinations. He then turned to Lance, causing the Cuban boy to gulp.

"Um, mind if I just browse y'alls hangar? I really wanted to be a pilot and see this kinda tech is once in a lifetime."

Another Blade just stepped right up before Kolivan could even point to them. Taking Lance away too.

Shiro stepped forward "Gym, and someone to spar with. I've gotten a bit out of shape."

Matt then began to say "Comp-" but was cut off by a eager young female Blade

"Computers? Right this way."

"How did you plan that out so well?" Pidge asked Kolivan.

"I am the leader of the single most important intelligence agency in the world. It's my job to study people, especially those I feel I will have to be in contact with at some point. Also I'm pretty skilled at pattern recognition."

"Oh, where do I want to go?"

"You want to go to his quarters, see where he stayed while he was gone for so long. That's why I am personally escorting you, as recompence." Kolivan said as he waved her along.

 _Wow, he's good._ Pidge thought in surprise.

* * *

A couple more days passed and Keith was getting tired, not just emotionally but physically and mentally too. Krolia noticed he was getting out of breath easier, and when he finally started having a difficult time to breathe his eyes would flash between his now normal yellow color, or his old more calming dark blue color.

 _If his Galra half comes out during high stress environments, then that explains why he has been able to survive this long… but if his body is getting accustomed to the area then it's possible his Galra half will fail. If that happens…_ Krolia could not bear to finish that thought any further. She looked up to her son who was sitting on what was now his own personal space atop the large rock, fiddling with the machine he built.

"It's been- well it's been just shy of two years in here. If my math is right, and it's probably not, it's been barely a couple of weeks on that end, so hopefully you've found the first frequency Pidge like I knew you would. But by the time two years roll around, it should be about one months' time of us being gone from there… But the way it's looking I won't make it that long." Keith let out a rather loud sigh.

"I'm trying to not let mom figure it out, but she's too smart to stay in the dark for long, but my body is failing me. The only reason I've survived this long without my mask to filter out the bad stuff for me to survive is because of my Galra half. Any full blood human would die near instantaneously here. Pidge, on the off-chance I can't make it make to you… with the chance of me not being able to keep my promise of coming back, no matter how long it took, I just want you to know I love you." Keith began to repeatedly breathe in heavily, with his wolf buddy worrying next to him.

"Pidge, I love you with all of my soul, that's one of the things that kept me going for this long in here was my love for you, I wish we had more time- time for me to love you, one day marry you, hopefully raise a family with you. But that doesn't seem likely right now. If I don't get to make it back, do me one favor and stay in contact with my mom." He paused to look down at her. "She and I have got pretty close in the time we've been here. She really wants to meet you."

"I'm going to keep on waiting for you Pidge, I'll never give up on waiting for you. And replace old message with new…" Keith finished up as he laid back on the now fully grown wolf. "I'm going to take a nap boy, it's time for a nap."

Krolia silently watched her son lay back, she hoped she won't have to watch her precious son die in front her very eyes.

* * *

Hours passed, Pidge had stayed in Keith's room for a while, going through his stuff. She found notes that he made to critique his fighting style, she laughed, of course he would do that. She also found some sketches of his, she had not seen him draw in years, she wondered what could have got him back into it.

After leaving Keith's room, Pidge and Kolivan then went to all the computers where Matt had been holed up, flirting with the female Blade that escorted him. After fawning over all the tech there she had one more request before they went to check on the progress of the search. "Keith showed me some of y'alls nanotech, mind taking me to R&D real fast so I can see it up close?"

Without another word Kolivan nodded, taking her there straight away, and as they entered they saw Hunk and his escorting eating some cookies and talking recipes. "Oh, hey Pidge! How was your tour thingy?" Hunk asked.

"It was good, interrupted Matts attempt at flirting, so that was fun." She laughed "But I mainly came here to check out the nanotech, for a moment."

"Ah, good choice." Hunk and his escort said at the same time "It's a real beauty of engineering."

As they were about to go to the room specifically for nanotech, the Galra man from earlier came rushing in. Pidge believed his name to be Zet, her beliefs were confirmed when Kolivan acknowledged him. "What news do you have Agent Zet?"

"Good news, bad news, and bad news sir. The good news is Agent Keith updated his message. Bad news is what he says in the updated message. More bad news is we know where he is, but we cannot reach him."

"Let's go, I want to hear this message for myself. Ms. Holt?"

"I'm right with you. But we have to gather the others too, Hunk let's go!" She said in a somewhat worried tone.

"On it! Hey, can you?"

"Already told my other Agents to meet us there." His escort said flatly.

"Thank you." He smiled as they all went to the communications and tracking division of the base.

There they were met with the others.

"Okay" Pidge started.

"Play the message." Kolivan finished.

* * *

Pidge sat there listening in disbelief "… By the way it's looking, I won't make it that long." She could hear him sigh _He's been gone for nearly two years in that places time? And he's slowly dying?_ "Pidge, on the off-chance I can't make it to you…" she felt her heart drop with him saying that "- I just want you to know I love you." She continued to hear him struggling to breathe, she felt like she herself was dying. "-more time… marry you… raise a family." Her mind was taking in every bit of information, but at the same time it seemed crazy "But it doesn't seem likely- stay in contact with my mother… she really wants to meet you." _I want to meet her too, with you at my side._ She thought. "-I'll never give up on waiting for you Pidge. And replace old message with new."

Pidge almost began crying "No, I can't lose him again. I already thought he died once. I can't let him die for real." She turned to Zet and Mika "You said you know where he is but can't get him, explain yourself. Now." She commanded.

The two cleared their throats and Mika spoke first "Well your IBF, as you call it, is the exact same frequency that The Empire had connected to their quintessence portal. So, in all technicality, you two discovered another dimension and proved the theory of quintessence years before anyone else. But that's why we can't get to him, he is in another dimension."

"Why can't you build a portal too! If they can, so can you!" Pidge shouted.

"In all honesty" Zet began "Frankly, none of us are smart enough to do it. The Empire has some of the smartest people in the world to build that, no one else can."

"That's not true." Allura barked angrily, "There is one man in the world smart enough to do by himself. He hates The Empire, so he may just do it. But honestly, he's a detestable pest that I hate with every fiber of my being."

"Allura, if you know someone who can save Keith you have to get them. We only have, maybe two weeks left. With this person, and the Blades resources, we can do it!" Pidge pleaded to her friend.

Allura growled, "Okay, fine. His name is-"

* * *

"Let go of me you peasants!" a man shouted as two members of the Blades grabbed him and brought him along to an airship "Do you have any clue who I am? I am-"

"Lotor Sincline! You bastard." Allura glared at him as the door to the airship opened.

"Hoho, Allura Alforson. This is quite the surprise." Lotor snickered "Why did you have these miscreants kidnap me?"

"Because, I need your help. And I knew you wouldn't listen to me unless forced."

"A very astute observation. But very well, what do you need of me? Though, I make no promises to actually do it."

"I need to you to make a quintessence portal generator." She spoke flatly.

"Ha, that's rich! After what you did to me? You want me to make you a QPG, why should I?" He laughed in her face.

"I can give you three good reasons. A man's life is at stake, it would be a big eff you to The Empire, and it's your only other choice aside from jumping out of this airship at fifteen-thousand feet up, going at terminal velocity until you hit the ground."

"You had me at a man's life is in danger, you won me at eff you to The Empire, and it was rather unnecessary to threaten me with death by gravity." The man smiled cockily. "But you owe me one still for doing this."

"I don't care, we just need your help."

"Who is 'we' by the way?" he questioned.

"You'll see when we land." She finished, sitting at the opposite side of the ship. Occasionally shooting daggers with her eyes at the man in question.

"Y'know" Lotor began chuckling to himself "The last time you stared at me this much was when we were dating." He laughed, closing his eyes and leaning back.

"Ugh!" she scoffed in disgust "How dare- how dare you!" doing everything in her power not to walk over to him and slap him across the face.

"Now please do your best to be quiet, I must prepare my mind to work and require the utmost piece to do so." Lotor finished laughing.

"Ah! You pest, I can't believe we need your help."

"Oh, my dear. I can't believe you need me either, especially considering what you said the last time we met."

"You mean after you-"

"Tried to explain a simple misunderstanding? Even though you didn't listen." He finished his sentence with annoyance. "Believe me, my lady, if you did not tell me a mans life was in danger. I would have laughed you away. Whether you choose to believe it or not I don't care, just know that not all Galra are assholes."

"Just shut up. We're here." Allura sternly spoke as the airship impacted the ground. "No wandering. You will follow after me and that is all." She commanded as she led Lotor to the same area as everyone else.

"At least tell me where I am, and what I'm doing here."

"You're here to sa-"

"Aside from save a mans life, I need details." Lotor cut her off, the woman remained silent as they walked onward to where the others were. Once they got there Lotor saw Pidge and the others gathered together.

"Who are the children?"

"The girl in the middle is named Kaitlyn Holt, she is one half of the pair to confirm quintessence. And discover away to a limitless realm full of it."

"You're joking, right? What is she, seventeen?" Lotor asked in shock.

"Actually yes, but they discovered it years ago. When she was closer to twelve or so."

"Astounding, and who is the other person to help her?"

"Her boyfriend, the man you're going to help save."

Lotor smiled "Well now, things just got a whole lot more interesting. Haven't they?" he said as he approached all the others. "Greetings, I am Lotor Sincline."

Pidge just looked up at him, it was clear to Lotor from the redness of her eyes she had been crying for quite awhile "So, you're the only man smart enough to save Keith before he runs out of time?"

Lotor was confused "I wouldn't say I'm the only man, given enough time-" he was cut off by the shorter girl.

"We have two weeks. Can you do it?"

Lotor smiled, though in all honesty with the direness of the situation he knew he should not have done that. "Two weeks, eh? Then yes, it seems I am the only man to do it." He the turned to Allura who pointed to Kolivan implying he was the man in charge. "But for me to be able to do it in time, I will need unwavering support and resources. This will be no easy task, especially with the timetable. Are we clear?"

"Clear. What will you need to begin?"

"A lab, any and all information you have regarding this, also if you happen to have at least a theoretical blue-print on the machine required to go there, that would make life a lot easier."

"You can have our spare R&D lab, Zet and Mika will bring you any data they have regarding the IBF, and you have one of the creators of the machine that senses it right here. As for blue-prints, we actually have them ready. Our agent that was undercover in The Empire was able to send it to us."

"Splendid, we may be able to get them out of there at a much faster rate then. May I have an escort to your spare R&D? I was told by Allura no wandering." He smirked, quickly glancing at the girl in question.

"Of course." Kolivan spoke as he summoned over a Blade to escort the man.

"Kolivan…" Pidge spoke up "I have a request."

"What is it?"

"I'm going to be one of the ones to rescue Keith, there is now doubt about that. But he said any normal human would die almost instantly, I'll need gear."

"Well, I'm sure we can make a suit for someone of your size."

"No, I have my own design. I'll just need your tech, and a few extra hands."

"Understood." Kolivan smiled, he was starting to see why Keith fell for this one. She has the strong personality of a Galra. "We'll give you all the help we can spare." Kolivan then spoke into his earpiece for a moment and turned back to Pidge. "Grab your brother and the large fellow, I'm sure with the three of you working together on your assignment, and being in such close proximity to Lotor in case he needs help, you can finish both jobs faster." Pidge nodded and summoned her brother and friend, the four of them walking to the Blades R&D labs.

"This is Kenrak, head of R&D. Kenrak, you and your crew will help these three with whatever they need for an important assignment."

"Yessir" Kenrak spoke, pounding his fist to his chest in salute. Kolivan returned the gesture, leaving them all in the labs. "Greetings, how may we be of service to you?"

"We're going to build some suits, and some gear." Pidge smiled.

* * *

Keith dropped to his knees, grabbing his chest in pain as he struggled to breathe. "Keith?!" Krolia shouted as she ran over to her son, watching his muscles tense up from the internal struggle. "Keith, remember! Patience yields focus." Krolia spoke over and over, placing her hands on her sons face, trying to calm him. Wolf just sat there in a sad expression, not knowing what all the excitement was about.

After moments of Keith struggling, Krolia finally managed to get him to calm down. "Oh my god Keith!" she exclaimed, squeezing her son in a hug "It's getting worse…"

"I'll be fine mom-" Keith coughed as he tried to stand up, his balance faltering as he did so.

"No, no you won't…" Krolia sobbed, she could sense the day coming, but she never thought it would be approaching this fast. She did not know what to do. "Keith, I can't lose you here. Just please, rest for me. Let me take care of you for a while." It had been almost one months and three weeks in their time since he made a new message. At this point his brain was getting so fuzzy he could not even attempt to try and work out the math for the other world, nor could he begin to guess how much time he had left.

"Okay, okay… I'll- I'll rest. But first" he began trying to sit up "Tell me a few things." He finished as he propped himself against his large rock.

"What do you want to know?"

"You- youuu and dad…" Keith began slurring "How did you to meet? Kolivan said he nursed you to health, but how does that work?"

Krolia smiled, but it was a smile with two meanings. Part of her was joyous that Keith wanted to know more about that, the other part felt pain because this is the fourth time he has asked her for this story since they arrived here. "Well, it was just after one of my mission, I had an assignment to sabotage an Empire base hidden in the desert…" Krolia recounted. She remembered the sound of explosions and gunfire going off in the distance as she walked away, bleeding out. Next thing she knew she was waking up in a shack, with the man that would later become Keith's father standing over her.

"He was so handsome" Krolia smiled "His eyes were really gentle, yet he seemed like the rugged type. Not many humans had accepted us Galra yet, it was worse than what it is even today, yet your father didn't judge me. No, he took me into his home and cared for me. He was so kind, I think I fell for him right then and there."

"Am I like him? He died when I was young, the only real memories have of him are fishing and him in his firefighter uniform."

"Oh Keith, you are so much like him." She said as she patted her sons hair.

"I wish I could've seen you two happy together…"

"Me too."

"I have one more thing- to ask you." He said, his breath starting to get shorter again.

"What is it?"

"When you meet Patie" he began mixing her name and nickname together "Take care of her for me, she will be going through a lot. Just like you, she'll probably come to you… don't push her away please, I want you two to be close."

"Of course, sweetie."

"One last thing, I have to go up to the machine for one last message. Just in case- I…" Keith said as he climbed the rock struggling more and more until Wolf teleported the two of them up there. "Thanks, boy." Keith smiled as he pressed the button to begin.

"Pidge…"

* * *

A fair amount of time had passed for Katie and the others, between helping Lotor isolate the frequency on a much larger scale, and aiding in the building of the portal machine, along with making suits able to survive the harsh environment on the otherside, along with something extra special "I present to you, the first bayard!" Pidge shouted with happiness as she raised her 'weapon' in the air in front of the others.

"Hey wait that looks familiar…" Lance started, trying to place his finger on where he had seen it before "Whoa, no way! That's the same thing in from the blue-prints in your garage! Did you really build it?"

"Yup- yup! With the nanotech from the Blades I was able to make it a reality. It has all the functions I intended too!" she said as she swung it around rather impressively.

"Aw it's so small and cute." Lance teased until Pidge tapped him with it, causing quite the electric shock. All the other laughed at that, including Lotor and Allura, the latter of whom hadn't shown any happy expressions in the formers presence the entire time he had been around.

"Yeah it is pretty cute." She teased back "But check this out!" she exclaimed as she launched it forward until it struck a test dummy she had a Blade prepare, the line then went tight and she yanked the dummy to her. "I have them making Keith's and then the rest of yours right now-"

"Ms. Holt!" Mika shouted as she walked in the room "We just got one more message from Keith, you need to hear this immediately."

Pidge felt her heart sink. She knew this couldn't be good.

* * *

All of them had gathered up in the communications and tracking room, where Mika had been preparing to play another message with Kolivan at his side.

"Well" Lotor started "Don't keep the poor girl waiting! Every second counts! This could have important information."

"Yes, Agent Mika?" Kolivan stated.

"Sir." Mika pushed play.

And everyone felt their heartrates raise when they heard how Keith sounded, he was slurring and tired.

"Pidge…"

* * *

"Pidge… it looks like I was wrong. I thought I had more time, but seems I overestimated." Keith breathed in heavily before letting out a small laugh "You'd always tell me to stop overestimating myself, haha. Guess I have to now, huh?" Keith coughed, and it was not a normal cough. From the sound of it, there was something there. Even though they did not see it, they heard it, Keith coughed up blood. A lot too, from the sound of it.

He then spit it out "Katie, I'm sorry I kept lying to you. I promised I'd come back. Lie. I promised to stay safe. Lie. I promised to wait for you…" he paused, all that could be heard was his raspy breath "I guess I lied for that too. Mom found out… she doesn't have a time yet, or if she does she hasn't said it out loud, but I'm going to be gone soon. I wish I could leave something for you. But the only thing I have to give is my heart, and you already own that. Heheh." Keith let out a small laugh again. "Oh wait! There is one thing I can physically give. In my quarters at the Blades, I was able to compile a few small leads for your dad in my spare time."

"I'm going to miss everyone, y'know. I mean everyone, Lance you hear that?!" Keith shouted "In my last moments, you're one of the people on my mind. Be sure to keep Allura happy, okay? You two are good for each other." When Lotor heard that he raised an eyebrow for a second but then paid it no more attention. "Hunk, big guy. Don't ever give up, you're a really great guy. I heard a while back you and Shay went on a double date, keep it up man. Matt, I know you'll probably hear this eventually, I want you to take care of my brother for me. Shiro, make sure you take care of yourself, mister 'dad friend' always stresses. That's not healthy for you."

"Whoa, getting dizzy…" Keith mumbled to himself as he nearly fell back before his wolf caught him "Thanks boy, oh I guess I better name you, huh? Oh yeah, still recording. Anyways, I adopted this dog, he's really good. You'd love him Katie. I can't wait for you and me to watch him together." Now he was speaking non-sense, just a second ago he said he was abut to be gone. "Katie, even though I'm probably gone, come and get my mom and Wolf. I-"

Keith was interrupted by a woman speaking "Keith, son, that's enough talking. You have to save your energy. Come on, let's go back down now."

"Okay mom, whatever you say, let me just finish this up. Katie, you remember that really old movie from the twenty-tens? Endgame I think it's called. Anyways there's one quote that comes to mind right now. 'When I close my eyes I'll dream of you. It's always you.' Mom can you push send for me?"

"Of course."

"Bye Katie, I love you." And with that the message cut off.

* * *

"Bye Katie, I love you…" _No, no no no… there has to be more time!_ Pidge thought to herself.

"We need to move. Now!" Pidge commanded.

"But we haven't tested it to make sure you can return." Lotor said, trying to convince her to stand down for a moment "I need a few more hours-"

"We don't have hours! He is running out of time! Send me in there with some extra gear, worst case scenario, we don't come back immediately but I can give him a way to breathe." Pidge said as she stepped behind a curtain to change into her own suit.

Once out she grabbed a new mask for Keith, attached her bayard to her side and began to stand in front of the portal. "Send me. NOW!" she shouted. It took a second but Lotor nodded, pressing a few buttons until the machine whirred on. Next Pidge saw nothing. Then, she saw a whole new world before her.


	6. Chapter 6

"Keith! KEIITTHHH!" Pidge shouted out into the vastness before her.

"Ms. Holt, can you hear me?" she heard Lotor ask.

"Lotor?"

"Oh good, my hypothesis was correct. As long as the portal remains open we will not experience any timing discrepancies through communication. Now, since that last message from your partner was so recent, it should have a strong frequency. Use the HUD in your helmet to search for it. Your suit will automatically track where you go, and will give you a direct route back when you find him."

"Ok, thanks. We'll be out in no time hopefully." She said as she followed the route laid before her on her helmets screen.

With that she was running through a new harsh environment until she saw some smoke in the air _That must be them…_ she thought "Keith!" she continued shouting. As she approached she saw a three figures. A woman and a dog, both standing over another. The woman slowly stroking the other figures hair. "KEITH!"

The woman turned her eyes away from her son, looking at the small figure running towards them "Who are you?" she asked though she got no response as the smaller girl continued approaching them.

"Keith…?"

"Katie?" His eyes barely opening, though he gave a small smile "I knew you'd make it. I always knew." Keith tried leaning up but failed on his own until Krolia and Pidge helped him.

"We have to get him out of here. He doesn't have much time left." Krolia said.

"Help me carry him, the portal should still be open." Pidge responded, throwing one of Keith's arms over her shoulder, Krolia doing the same. "Ready?"

Krolia nodded in response, and the two of them ran on with Krolia calling the wolf after them. "How far would you say it is?"

Pidge tapped the side of her helmet, causing the visors screen to change the information being displayed "About another 100 meters or so…" she grunted, the extra weight from Keith causing her to wear out even faster. "Right there!" she said, and as they got closer she took out her bayard, aiming it in the direction. "Hold on tight!"

Krolia affirmed her and also grabbed onto the wolf, Pidge then shot her bayard out, and as it went through the portal the line tightened up, yanking the four of them through as the portal slowly closed.

* * *

Everyone waited on the other side anxiously, they had not heard from Pidge since her last communication of her screaming out for Keith. "One of us has to go after her." Allura suggested.

"Let me go" Lotor spoke "I'm part Galra, I can survive over there long enough to get them all back."

"No" Kolivan barked "You're the one in charge of the portal, you must be here and ready to close it. I'll go through."

"Wait, something is coming through guys." Matt said to them as the green line of Pidges bayard shot through and embedded into the wall behind them.

"The portal is closing…" Lotor whispered "Pull them through now! I'll try to keep it open as long as I can but they only have seconds at most!" Lotor shouted as he messed with multiple dials on console.

Everyone grabbed onto the line, with Kolivan and Shiro upfront, Hunk and Allura up next, and Matt and Lance at the very end. All of them heaving on it at once until they saw four different figures fall through on top of each other. "Katie? Are you guys alright?"

"Forget me! Take Keith to the medical bay, now!" Pidge screamed as she and Krolia tried to stand up with Keith until Kolivan picked up the boy in his arms, taking him off to get taken care of. "Good, Keith's going to be… okay." Pidge huffed as she turned over and collapsed on her back.

"So-" Krolia breathed in, the first bit of fresh air in two years "You're the 'beautiful girl' who is the love of my sons life?" she let out a small laugh "You're the famous Pidge?"

"Y-yes ma'am" Pidge turned her head slightly away from Krolia to hide her blush "It's really a pleasure to finally meet you." Pidge let out a small nervous smile.

"Please, the pleasure is all mine." Krolia smiled back. After a second she stood up, then helped Pidge get up herself, the two of them were soon surrounded by the others. "So let me see if I can put this all together…" Krolia began to point to everyone "Lance McClain, Hunk Garret, Allura Alforson, Matthew Holt" she then got to Lotor "and who are you?"

"Greetings, I am Lotor Sincli- ack!" He was then interrupted by Krolia wrapping a single hand around his throat.

"Your father is the bastard in charge of The Empire, you're father is Zarkon Daibazal. Give me one good reason why I shouldn't crush your throat right here and now?" she threatened as her grip slowly tightened.

"It was because of him we were able to get you and Keith out!" Pidge explained as she grabbed Krolias arm, trying to get her to loosen her grip.

Krolia glanced back and forth between the short girl and the tall man, eventually letting go "You're lucky, if you didn't help save my sons life. You'd be dead. Now step back, please." Krolia bitterly growled between her teeth.

"Apologies madam, but as I tell Allura, I am not my father. His sins are not mine." Lotor said in a flat tone, no real emotion aside from him rubbing his neck.

Pidge lowered Krolias arm then turned to Lotor and mouthed the word 'sorry'. He just waved his hand in a way to let her know it's fine, almost as if he were used to it.

Krolia let out a small huff before she came face to face with Shiro "You're Takashi, you're the man who took care of Keith in my absence after his father- passed."

"Yes ma'am." Shiro straightened up, even if everyone did not know of his military background it would have been obvious from just his posture right there and then.

"Thank you." Krolia said as she hugged him tight "Thank you for taking care of my boy."

Shiro was surprised, but then he quickly reciprocated the hug "It was my honor and privilege to have him in my life. But now you're part of his again. Why don't we all go and see how he's doing?" Shiro pitched the idea to the whole group, not just Krolia in particular.

"Yes, Katie, would you walk with me? I'd like to talk to you some. I'd like to talk to all of you eventually, if that's alright."

"Yeah." Pidge smiled, walking in tandem with the Galra woman.

"Of course, we'd all love to get to know you too." Allura spoke as she and the rest followed after them. Lotor at the very back of the group _My job here is done, but I should at least make sure this Keith is alright. It's only appropriate, right?_ He thought to himself, he knew he was not truly accepted here, though he still wandered with them even if it were to make sure a total stranger was safe.

* * *

As everyone closed in on the medical bay, Kolivan walked out. "So…" Krolia began.

"How is he?" Pidge finished.

Kolivan kept his face stern "He's- he's lucky. Any more time in there and there'd be no hope according to Zaizan. But there is a chance because you brought him back."

"Thank you Kolivan." Krolia smiled softly at her commander. "Can we see him now?"

The man placed his hand on her shoulder and shook his head lightly "Not now, we have to keep the environment as peaceful as can be for any operations that will need to take place. But allow me to bring furniture so you all can wait out here. It- it is the least I can do for everyone here."

After a few minutes of Kolivan and a few Blades bringing in different chairs for everyone to sit around in Krolia spoke up. "I would like to get to know all of you, Keith told me a lot while we were together. But there's still so much I wish to know."

"Before we start that though, you were in there for almost two years, right?" Pidge asked.

"Yes, just a few more days and it would have been two years exactly. Why do you ask?" Krolia cocked her head to the side.

Pidge just chuckled awkwardly "That means biologically, Keith is close to twenty years old… and I'm seventeen, at least for a few more months. Legally how does that make our relationship work? I mean over here, he should only just be turning eighteen in a couple weeks, but we have been together for awhile and are close enough in age where it would be fine. But now he is actually twenty not eighteen, meaning that-"

Shiro and Matt cut her off "Katie, you're over thinking things. In the database for the world, Keith is only eighteen, he may now look twenty, but legally he's eighteen. Besides as long as both parties families approve of it, ala me and your mom, there will be no issues. I have no real problem due to the- uniqueness of the situation."

"Yeah, and mom absolutely loves Keith, I'm sure she would approve of this, because as Shiro said 'It's a very unique situation." Matt cut in, finishing for his friend to calm his sister down.

"You really don't think this will be an issue?" Pidge asked, looking between her brother, Shiro and Krolia.

"I know it won't be, right Shiro?" Matt turned to his friend.

"Agreed, but even though I am listed as his legal guardian, I think Krolia should have a say as well."

Krolia took a deep breath in "Keith is absolutely in love with you Katie, and I wasn't a part of his life enough to weigh in on this decision, but since I was asked I will give my opinion: I don't mind, as long as you two don't do anything to, um- risky until you turn eighteen… which was in a few months, right?"

Pidges face turned a bright red before she hid her face in her palms. She couldn't speak from the embarrassment she felt but just nodded as if to say 'Okay'.

Matt laughed along with the others, Shiro and Krolia smiling at her ability to tease Pidge so non-chalantly. "So, I know I already asked, but may I get to know you all?"

"Of course. What would you like to know?" Shiro asked.

Krolia put her hand to her chin "It's funny" she laughed "I've been going through so many different questions this entire time. Now? I'm just drawing blanks."

Pidge gulped before she fanned her face to calm herself "Why not just go from one of us to the next? Starting with Shiro, we all kinda met him in chronological order." She suggested, smirking at her own idea.

"Good idea, Katie. Takashi, how did you actually meet my son? All he did was just praise you, and about how you raised him. We never actually got to how you two met."

"Heh, we met when I was doing a regular visit from the garrison to the local schools. PR, recruitment talks, stuff like that." Shiro smiled remembering that day fondly "When I got there it was my job to talk up the idea of the kids taking a career there, anyways as I was answering this question, I saw this one kid sitting at the back of the class. He obviously had a chip on his shoulder and couldn't care less about the world. He was the only one to not ask a single question."

* * *

"So kids" Takashi began as he addressed the classroom full of kids "Is that all the questions you had?" he asked, taking a quick glance at one kid in particular. That same kid also met eyes with him before jerking his eye back towards the window. "Well if that's everything for today, I guess I'll just head on back to base." He finished as he started walking out the door.

"Awww!" all the kids whined, as the kid in the back just rolled his eyes at them.

"Oh wait! I do have one more thing, a surprise for everyone actually." Shiro said as he poked his head back in the room. "I may have just so happened to bring a state-of-the-art flight simulator, for everyone to try."

All the kids cheered as they ran outside to see it.

Once outside a kid spoke up "So is it like a high-tech video game or something?" a small Cuban boy asked.

"Yeah, think of it like that. A fancy video game." Matt chimed in as he walked outside of the simulator holding a wrench with fresh oil on his face. "Nice to meet you all, Matt Holt: Garrison engineer extraordinaire."

"Whoa!" the kids smiled.

"Matt get off your own pedestal, one: you're an engineer in training. And two: you know darn well that that oil on your face is for show, the simulator is in perfect working condition." Shiro laughed as he wrapped his arm around his friend.

"Geez Shiro, did you have to say that so loud? At least let me recruit some of these kids for the engineering department. Sure, pilots are all well and cool, but engineers are the back-bone of the garrison." Matt laughed back at his buddy.

"You're are correct in that. So, you hear that kids? Just because you may not get a high score in the simulator doesn't mean you can't have a great job at the garrison, like Matt said: Pilots are cool, but we'd be pointless without the engineers to make everything for us. So, let's have everyone gather around and have each of you take a turn, sound good?"

"Yeah!" all the children cheered.

* * *

"Forgive my interruption, but is the small Cuban boy in your story Lance? I thought Takashi was the first one to meet Keith." Krolia asked

"Yeah, we were in the same class, but we didn't even know each other existed. Like Shiro said, at that time Keith was at his maximum lone wolf stage. Or as Pidge here ever so affectionately calls it, his 'emoness'." Lance laughed as Pidge just kind of squirmed in her seat as Krolia raised her eyebrow.

"I- uhm, tease him out of love. Hehehe." Pidge laughed nervously as Krolia just lightly smiled and shook her head at her.

"And Matthew, did you also meet Keith that day? Or were you not formally introduced to each other yet?"

"We, uh- we kinda met. You may want to let Shiro explain it."

Shiro just laughed before continuing "So it was getting closer towards the end of all the kids having their fun when one of the teachers pulled me aside with a kid."

* * *

"Commander Shirogane, allow me to introduce James. He's one of our top students and from the looks of it he will be holding the high score on that simulator of yours." A woman said as she brought along a small child.

"It's an honor to meet you sir, I've wanted to be a pilot for years when I saw an airshow with my dad a while back." James said politely.

"Oh, well thank you. In a few years, with your parents permission of course, you can join us at the garrison and train to be a pilot full time. Whaddya say?"

"That'd be awesome!-"

"The emo kid just got a new highscore!" a kid shouted as they all turned around to see the kids gathered around a black-haired boy looking like he was barely breaking a sweat.

("The kid was a prodigy." Shiro laughed as he continued to recount the story "Never before had I seen such raw talent. It was like he was meant to be in the clouds or something. Or maybe more accurately, like he had always been there?")

Shiro watched over the boy in the chair "Who's this kid?"

The teacher turned away in disgust "No one, just a troubled young boy. Well, he's both troubled and is trouble. Don't concern yourself with him."

"Yeah, he's nothing more than an emo and a cheater! That's probably how he is doing so good right now." James chimed in.

"Unlikely" Matt interjected "Even if he were amazing with computers, he'd have to be one of the best in the world to make it look so easy for him. And if that's the case, he should still get some sort of praise."

"Please, he's nothing but trash. My dad said so himself. He told me his dad was a deadbeat that was only a firefighter for the attention, and his mom was a slut from nowhere. A girl that slept with the first man she met that would give her attention." James kept talking trash.

Then Shiro noticed the kids stopped cheering the kid on, in fact there was not even any noise coming from the simulator. "What did you say?" the kid asked, getting right in James face. Shiro noticed he had a slight southern accent, very different than the other kids around the school.

"I only said the truth. Now get out of my face, trash." James smirked cockily.

The kid turned around, and Shiro was almost surprised with his restraint… ("Then I noticed his fist was clenched.") the black-haired kid quickly turned around to punch James in the gut, and as the other boy reeled over from the pain the kid grabbed the back of his head and had his face meet his knee. "DON'T YOU EVER TALK BAD ABOUT MY DAD AGAIN!" the kid shouted.

"Oh so you don't care about your whore mom?" James taunted.

That line threw him over the edge, as the unknown kid grabbed both sides of James head and quickly headbutted him, blood pouring out of James' nose "Don't talk about her either." The kid growled, glaring at James who laid on the ground.

"Are you insane? I think you just broke my nose!"

"Mr. Kogain, back away right now! You will be suspended for your actions, and anymore will lead to expulsion."

"What?! After what he said about my family? He's lucky I'm stopping right here."

"Expelled!" the teacher shouted as she knelt down to care after James "Let's get you to the infirmary." But then Shiro stood in the way.

"Ma'am, I'm afraid I'm going to have to ask you to rescind that punishment and give a suitable one to James here." Shiro spoke firmly.

"I beg your pardon? But did you not see what he just did?"

"Oh no, I saw. I saw how James insulted this boy, his father, and his mother. I saw how he called him trash to his face and continued to taunt. Behavior like that is not what we want in the garrison, and without a suitable punishment I can not believe he will learn his lesson. And if you would like anymore support from the garrison for this school you will oblige."

The woman breathed in deeply, surprised at the gall Shiro had "Fine. Mister Kogain, your punishment is revoked and James here will be punished and have his parents alerted."

Shiro smiled victoriously before he looked down at 'Kogain', raising his brows as if to ask "So?"

"Thanks, but no thanks. I see what it's like here and I want no part of it. My dad was wrong, this place can screw off." _Where are these kids getting this vocabulary?_ Shiro thought to himself. He then turned to talk to Matt.

"That was a crazy turn of events, huh?" Matt laughed.

"Yeah, I hate to leave that kid expelled, but what else can we do? He denied having his punishment taken away. So, are you ready to go?"

"Um Takashi, that's going to be a bit difficult without your buggy, don't ya think?"

"What are you-" Shiro turned around to see Kogain driving off in his buggy. "Matt?"

"Yeah?"

"Start your car."

* * *

"Wait! He stole your garrison issued vehicle?!" Krolia asked in shock.

"Yeah! It was hilarious. Shiro was talking the whole way about how Iverson was going to kill him for letting a ten year old steal from him." Matt laughed, teasing his old friend.

"Hey, first off he was closer to nine, second you know darn well if it was you, you'd have been crying." Shiro teased back.

"So, I take it you followed after him?"

"Yeah, and it seemed like his piloting skill transferred over to driving because he took us off-roading to a place I'm sure you're well acquainted with. And Matt's Subaru couldn't keep up off the road, so he got a bit of a lead on us."

* * *

"We can't say a word of this to Iverson. If he asks what took us so long, we went out for some down time. And if he uses the built-in GPS, that down time was off-roading. Got it?"

"Whatever you say." Matt chuckled, as he saw the lights of the buggy turn off about a mile ahead of them. "Looks like he stopped, how does a kid get all the way out here?"

"Maybe he lives here?"

"Think Takashi, how would he get to his school? We're closer to the garrison by now than we are to that place."

"I guess we'll just have to ask him when we get there."

After a few minutes they pulled up to a small shack looking house with the buggy parked outside. "Stay here, I'll be back in a minute."

"You kidding? Like I'm going to miss you talking to a kid that stole from you. That's rich, let's go." Matt laughed as he left Shiro beside the buggy walking up to the front door "Hey kid! We know you're in there, open up!" he yelled at he knocked on the door.

"I'm not in there, idiot. I'm above you." The kid replied as he sat on top of the roof.

"What are you doing up there? Shouldn't your parents be making you dinner and getting you ready for bed?"

"Ha! Now THAT'S rich!" the kid laughed as he leaned back staring at the sky "I was going to return the buggy tonight when most of the garrison had lights out. But if you want it now, the keys are in it."

Shiro climbed up on top of the roof with him "So, Kogain-"

"The name's Keith." The boy said, Shiro just now realizing the southern accent in the boys speech.

"So Keith, is this your home?"

"If you can call it that. Yeah, I guess so."

"Are your parents at work?"

"I wouldn't know." Keith said bitterly.

"Wait, so you just live out here on your own? What about your mom and dad?"

"I wouldn't know about my mom, she dropped us the first chance she got when I was a baby. And my dad hopelessly believed she'd come back one day."

"And your dad?" Shiro was almost afraid to ask the boy.

"He's- he's gone too. Buried in the cemetery just outside of town."

At this point Matt had begun to climb up there too, and he and Shiro both saw the boys eyes starting to water. "How long have you been out here on your own?" Shiro asked.

"Couple of months, maybe longer."

"You've been taking care of yourself for months? Why hasn't child protective services shown up? Take you too a foster family, an orphanage, something?!" Matt was shocked, to say the least.

"They don't know I exist. I don't care. I'm fine on my own, I lasted this long. I'll last for the rest of my life. Like I said, your keys are in the ignition." Keith told them as he hopped down from the roof.

Matt and Shiro just looked back and forth from the boy to each other.

"You know we can't just leave him Takashi."

"Yeah I know, but what are we going to do? He's still short by a year or so until he can join the garrison. Besides, I doubt Iverson would just let us bring in some random kid."

"I don't know, but we literally can't leave him here. I'm pretty sure that's a crime or something!"

"It's not a crime, but I see your point… Hey, do you think Colleen would be able to watch him for a few days? Just until we can come up with a permanent plan?" Shiro pitched the idea.

"Oh definitely! Just as long as we keep it a surprise until he's right in front of her." Matt gave the thumbs up.

"We are so dead." Shiro laughed as they climbed down, and once on the ground he poked his head inside "Keith?"

"Hi." Keith said nonchalantly, as he did some dishes while the oven was preheating with some pizza rolls in it. "Want some? I ended up just putting everything that was left in the bag since it was only forty or so."

"What flavor?"

"I ran out of pepperoni, so it's meat lovers. I know it's not the best flavor, but it's all I got at the moment." Keith said as he kept scrubbing at the bowl in his hands.

"You kidding? I love all pizza rolls! There's no such thing as a bad flavor." Shiro smiled as he stood behind Keith. "Add a little more soap and hot water. Just scrubbing with brute force won't get you too far."

"Geez, you sound like dad used too. Force can get you far enough in life."

"Work smarter, not-"

"Not harder. Yeah he'd say that all the time too."

"You know, I'd be a really crappy person if I just ate your food and left. What say I return the favor?"

Keith raised his eyebrows "What'd you have in mind?"

"Can I take you to a friend of mines place? I really don't want to leave a kid out here in the middle of nowhere."

"Why do you care? As far as you know James was right and I'm just trash, I mean I stole your buggy for crying out loud!"

"I like to try and be a good person. There's so few of those in the world, don't you agree? And you're not trash, so what do you say? Can I help you?" Shiro asked sticking out his hand.

Keith looked back and forth between the mans face and his hand, before taking it hesitantly "Okay, fine. But I get to come back here when you get tired of me. No CPS, no government, no orphanage. Got it?"

"Yeah, fine. But only after we get tired of you."

"Good-"

"Jokes on you, we're taking you to the nicest woman in the world."

"Dang it!" Keith started smelling something in the air "They're burning!"

"Really? I don't smell anything." Shiro pointed out as he too sniffed the air.

Keith wrapped his hands in a thick towel as he grabbed the pan "It's a talent of mine, I'm able to just tell when foods about to burn, apparently I got it from my mom according to dad."

"That's a pretty useful skill to have, must be quite the cook." Shiro said before he took a bite of one "Ow! My mouth" he shouted as he burnt his tongue and the roof of his mouth.

"I literally just got them out of the oven a few seconds ago! You watched me!" Keith sighed, "and no I'm actually a failure of a cook."

After a moment of the pizza rolls cooling off, Keith put them in a large bowl, he then grabbed his favorite pillow and they walked outside to Matt's car "Not yours?" Keith asked.

"No, all garrison issued vehicles have a GPS tracker in them. Can't have them knowing we're making an unscheduled stop at his families house." Shiro smiled as he reached for another piece of the food.

Keith just nodded as he hopped in the vehicle "So, engineer, what's your name again?"

Matt just side-eyed Keith as he started driving to find the main road again "Matthew Holt, but just call me Matt. Matthew is too formal."

"Alright 'Matt', so you two are taking me to your family?"

"Yep, and don't let my mom intimidate you. She may scream at me when we get there, but she's really nice. One heck of a mom."

"Well, I'm pretty sure any mom is 'one heck of one' compared to no mom."

Matt just kind of gritted his teeth at first "Oh, yeah sorry, kid."

"No big deal, I wouldn't say something if I couldn't take other people saying something similar." Keith informed them as he stared out the window to his home fading in the distance.

A little more than an hour or so passed, Keith started dozing off until they came to a halt. "'Kay kid, we're here." Matt feigned excitement as he nervously stared at his home "You best be coming into Takashi, it was your idea and you're going to help me sell it."

"Okay, okay. Just remind me to run next door and grab some stuff from my place before we head back to the garrison. You do that, I'll handle the fallout from Colleen." Shiro smiled affectionately at his friend before turning to face the tired kid. "You ready Keith?"

"Yeah, the sooner you put me in there, the sooner you throw me out. Better to start it off faster than procrastinate." Keith told them as he slowly got out of the car.

"Geez, he's a real joyride. Ain't he?" Matt said looking after the boy.

"We really can't say anything Matt, that kid has gone through a lot it seems."

"I know but kids his age should have optimism. I feel really bad for how he acts."

"Me too, but let's just get him in a loving environment for a few days, then come up with a permanent solution."

Matt nodded as they too got out and walked up to the front porch "It's late, mom's gonna be pissed we're coming at this hour."

"It's like… Oh wow, it is late." Shiro said as he looked at his watch "Crap…" he then rang the doorbell.

After a few seconds the three boys heard light stomping, all three now feared for their lives, even Keith who did not even know the woman on the other side, was scared.

Once Colleen opened the door she was trying her best to not get loud. "Matt?!" she said in a mix between a whisper and a shout "I just convinced your si-" she then noticed the boy behind her son and Shiro, she quickly composed herself and looked back and forth between the two older boys "What are you doing here, and who is this?" she asked as she lowered herself to get a good look at Keith.

"Can we come in, then explain?" Shiro asked as he swatted at a few bugs that gathered around them.

The woman just nodded as she led them through the door. "Please tell me you didn't accidently kidnap a child. Or worse yet, intentionally."

"No, his situation is a lot worse…" Shiro said as they all looked at Keith, who was now wandering the common area of the Holt household, taking in every detail he could.

"Is it just me or does he remind you of a cat?..." Matt joked as they watched him.

"Not the time Matt" Shiro said before turning back to Colleen. "I'll give you the short version: This is Keith, he is an orphan who has been taking care of himself for months in the desert on his own. He just got expelled today because a kid made fun of him and his family. He stole my buggy, we followed him, learned of his situation, and couldn't just leave him alone. Can I please convince you to let him stay here for a few days Colleen? Just until I find out a permanent solution?" Shiro begged.

Collen gave a look of overwhelming pity to the boy, the turned back to Shiro "If this were any other situation, I'd turn you away. But this, this is such a unique situation I can't say no. what would that make me if I did?"

"A smart human being who denied a total stranger entrance into her home." The boy spoke to them all, still not looking at any of them.

"Well, isn't he certainly blunt?" Colleen smiled as she walked over to the boy before tapping his shoulder, getting him to turnaround to face her "Keith, right? I'm Colleen, and you may be right. It may not be the smartest decision, but sometimes the right decisions aren't the smartest. Welcome into my home, stay as long as you need to."

Keith was shocked at the generosity shown to him, not just from Colleen but Shiro and Matt as well. "Th-thank you. Ma'am." He stuttered out.

Colleen just let out a small laugh before placing her hand on his head "Just Colleen dear, but if you have to be so formal misses Holt will suffice."

"O-oh, okay. Thank you, misses Holt." The boy let out a small nervous smile before he yawned.

"You must be tired, huh? Since it's so late, and such short notice, I won't be able to take all the stuff we have stored in Matts room out, but I hope the couch will be okay."

Keith just slowly laid down on the sectional before his body started sinking into it "Are you kidding? This is awesome! It's so much softer than my bed back home." He said as he nuzzled into his pillow, and within seconds he was passed out right there.

"Thank you, Colleen. I really truly mean it." Shiro spoke softly as Colleen walked him and Matt to the door.

"Like I said it's unconventional, but it's the right thing to do. Now you two better get back to the base, it's getting to be a ridiculous time now. Just do your best in the next few days to try and help this boy."

"That's the plan, ready to go Matt?"

"Yeah, tell Katie I said 'hi' mom."

She just smiled in return as the two left, and as she locked the door, she took one last glance to the young boy on her couch.

* * *

"So, you just take this random kid that you met in the desert to your home? You really are just a nice person, huh?" Krolia smiled.

"Technically we took him to my moms' home, not his. But you know, semantics." Matt laughed.

Krolia just smirked that the boy before turning to his sister "Katie, can I assume that you met Keith the next day?"

Pidge grew a big smile on her face and laughed "Oh-ho yeah I did, and let's just say we didn't have the most graceful of meetings."

* * *

("So I had just woke up, and as a kid I was an early riser on certain days that had shows I liked, this just so happened to be one of those day: so it was probably close to six or six-thirty A.M.")

Katie walked down the hall, she was still in some pajamas of hers which consisted of plaid pajama pants and an old shirt of her brothers that was much too big. She made her way to the kitchen, used a chair to climb onto the cabinet for some cereal, poured herself a bowl, and walked back to the living room to watch TV.

When she sat down though, something was off "Why's the couch so lumpy?" she asked herself as she bounced up and down on what she did not realize was a person's spine. That is until she heard a small groan as the 'couch' turned itself over. Katie was scared, but she slowly turned her head to the side, and as she did so she saw the face of a boy. One not too much older than herself, then she saw his eyes slowly flutter open. At first, she was honestly quite mesmerized by them, they were a strange shade of blue, almost purple even, she thought they were quite amazing… Then she screamed, which then caused the boy to scream in return.

"AHHH! MOM!"

Colleen came running out of her room as fast as she could "What is it? What's wrong?"

"THERE'S A STRANGER ON OUR COUCH! MAKE HIM GO AWAY!" ("Who would've thought those would be the first words I say in front of my true love?" Pidge laughed before continuing to tell the story.)

"Oh- oh dear." Colleen started laughing, much to the confusion of her daughter and the boy. "Today's Thursday isn't it? Early rise for Mister Rogers re-runs." She continued laughing "Katie, this is Keith. You're brother and Takashi dropped him off last night, he'll be staying here for a few days." Colleen explained.

 **(A/N: Since here lately I've been giving you guys more fun facts about myself. At 6 years old I actually did wake myself up at 6 A.M. as a kid just to watch Mr. Rogers… man time flies, can't believe it's been thirteen years since that time. Now I'm writing fanfiction where as at the current point of writing this, it's at 66 pages and 31,000+ words. Which I still haven't decided at this moment if I'm going to just upload it as one long chapter or break it up, so there's me telling you how long this is if it's just one thing, or how I've uploaded so many chapters at once if it's multiple.)**

"Wait, Matt and Shiro came by last night? When? I wanted to see them!" Katie complained, almost instantly forgetting the scare just now.

"Just a short time after you went to bed. If I would've remembered today was early morning day, I would've warned you." The mother smiled to her daughter. All the while Keith just sat there awkwardly, straightening himself up against the couch. "Now Katie, would you mind introducing yourself? Keith looks a little uncomfortable." Colleen chuckled.

"Hi, my name's Katie. But you can call me Pidge."

"Um, hi, Katie- er, Pidge? I'm Keith. Uh, just Keith." The boy said awkwardly.

"You're awkward." Katie replied flatly.

"Katie…" Colleen sighed.

"I like you, congratulations awkward boy. You're now my friend." The small girl smiled cheerfully before sticking her hand out to the boy.

* * *

"So, yeah. That's the basic jist of how I met Keith. Throughout the rest of that first day, he mainly just sat in a corner by himself looking at me and mom. Honestly it kind of scared me at the time, but at the same time I found it intriguing, he wasn't just looking he was studying us. I don't know, it's really hard to explain."

Krolia smiled, she thought it was sweet how he met the beginnings of his new family, then something else crossed her mind "Takashi, how did you actually go about adopting Keith to be under your care?"

"Well he ended up staying with Colleen and Katie for a lot longer than a few days. It was almost a solid month, but in that time at least three times a week I was able to get off from the garrison to visit Keith. We grew close in that time. I took him out to see the town, he'd ask me to go to specific places I would later find out were his and his father's favorite places, and we just got to know each other. Towards the end of that month, I ran the thought by him."

* * *

"So, how're you liking living with the Holts?"

"It's really great! Misses Holt is extremely nice, and Pidge is really fun." Keith said happily as he bit into an ice cream cone.

"Do you enjoy staying with them more than your old hermit lifestyle?" Shiro laughed.

"I mean, I miss my house. It's all I have left of dad, but I really love being around other people too. It's nice, not being alone."

"So, hypothetically how would you feel about not staying with them specifically anymore? Maybe someone else?"

Keith was silent for a second, he then grew worried "Are they getting tired of me?" he asked in a sad tone.

"What? No, not at all. I'm just asking, what do you think?"

"I really like the Holts, and you already promised no government or CPS, so I'll stay with them if I can."

"What if that other person was me? What if I, maybe y'know, adopted you." Shiro asked awkwardly, rubbing the back of his neck as he looked around.

Keith went silent again, looking at Shiro "Are you messing with me?"

"Um, no? Look, I know that's an important decision, and I don't want you thinking I'm trying to replace your father, but I feel that it'd be better for you to have a permanent home. Plus, you'd be living right next door to the Holts and you can see Pidge all the time."

"You-you're being for real?" Keith grew a huge smile on his face as he started to tear up "You really want to adopt me?" he said one last time in excitement.

Shiro could not do anything but look at the boys expression and give him a smile in return "If you'll let me, yeah. I want to adopt you."

Keith threw himself onto Shiro in a hug before a few small tears left his eyes "Thank you Shiro." He said in in light sobs.

"No problem kid."

"Wait what about your role at the garrison?"

"Since I've been there for so many years, it's time for my contract to be renewed. And since I'm their best pilot at the moment, I can pretty much ask for anything and they will most likely do it to keep me. I'll just tell them I'm adopting you, and that I'll need to live off base but still work there." He explained to the boy.

"And that'll work?"

"Yep, I know how that place works. So I know that this will work. Now finish your ice cream, I have to get you back to the Holts, then tomorrow we have to start the actual process." Shiro smiled as he ruffled the boys hair.

* * *

"So after that, we started the adoption process. I renewed my contract with the garrison with the new terms, then we moved him into my house next to the Holts. I keep a copy of the adoption papers in my wallet with me at all times." Shiro said as he took his wallet out.

"May I see it?" Krolia asked.

"Of course." He smiled as he handed her the paper. After she scanned it something was brought to her attention, there it read 'Keith Akira Kogane'.

"That's not how you spell his name."

"I'm sorry?"

"Right here, Kogane is spelt -ane. It is supposed to be spelt -ain."

"Oh that?" Shiro chuckled, he thought there was truly something wrong with the legal documents "No that's how he chose to spell it after the many months of the adoption process was finished. He wanted to take the spelling of my name Shirogane, but still pronounce it as Kogain. When I asked him why, he said 'So I can honor both my fathers'." Shiro almost teared up at that last part, "When he told me that, I truly felt something happen in my life, I was truly happy in that moment."

"And how did you learn of me and the Blades? Kolivan mentioned that you knew we existed beforehand."

"As we were moving Keith's items out of his fathers and his old house, I stumbled across an old letter from his dad. Pretty much it was a letter for whoever took care of Keith in case something ever happened to him, so they wouldn't be lost. At first it was small stuff, little quirks to notice and prepare for ahead of time. At the bottom, it then gave an explanation for those quirks, that being Keith was half-Galra. It explained about where you went as well so when Keith was older he would know." Shiro had grown an awkward smile on his face at that point "And correct me if I'm wrong but does Keith get his somewhat morbid and depressing sense of humor from his father?"

Krolia cocked her head to the side "Actually that's probably from both of us. That is one thing his father and I first noticed we had in common was our since of humor. Why do you ask?"

"Because at the end of the letter he wrote, and I quote 'I know I shouldn't write this, but what's Krolia gonna do? Kill me. If someone's reading this, she was beaten to the punch…' So yeah, kind of… just yeah. Haha." Shiro chuckled.

"Sounds like him." The woman smiled fondly.

"Thank you three for telling me this" Krolia began as she continued her smile with joyous tears, she lost count of how many times she's cried in the passed few days, between watching her son slowly die in front of her, to hearing he may be alright, to hearing stories of him growing up. She truly could not begin to guess the tears she's shed.

Then Zaizan, the lead of the medical division of the Blades walked out from the room where they kept Keith. "Apologies for the interruption, but I assumed you would like to have an update."

"Yes Zaizan, please."

"Well we have him stabilized" he growled "we currently have an oxygen tube forcing oxygen through his body, as well as keeping him under with heavy anesthesia, at the moment. If he does recover properly, I must warn you now, keep him out of any stressful environments. It could throw his body into shock and trick him into thinking he is still over there. If that were to happen then there would be no telling the effects."

Krolia just nodded "Can we see him?"

"If you do, just prepare yourself. I know you've seen a lot Krolia, but seeing a partner hooked up to a machine, and seeing a loved one are two very different things. That goes to you others as well, a person on machines is not a pretty sight to be seen."

"We'll be alright, right?" Krolia asked everyone, but she aimed her sight towards Pidge specifically, she just received a nod in response. "We'll be alright." She said firmly.

"Okay, four at a time. So half now, half next. The… dog, will have to remain out of the room." Zaizan finished as he walked back in.

"Obviously, his mom, Katie, and Shiro are the first three of the first half. But who's the fourth?" Matt asked.

"You guys mind if I go first?" Lance spoke up.

"Go on ahead Lance, the three of us will wait out here." Allura said.

"There's four of us." Lotor brought up.

"Forgive me, but I was under the impression you would have been gone by now." Allura glared.

Lotor took in a deep breath, but caught himself before he started yelling right outside of an operating room "What is your problem with me woman? I told you, not all Galra are bad. The Blades are a fine example, your friends mother, even your friend is half Galra like me. Why do you hate all of my people? Don't think I haven't noticed the small looks of hatred you give to not only me, but every other Galra that has walked by. You have a real problem and I don't know what it is, and frankly I don't care. But just know, I do want to make sure this Keith is alright. I care about other peoples lives, honestly it seems you're the only person who doesn't here."

"What are you talking about? Of course, I want Keith to live." Allura asked in shock.

"Oh really? If that's so then why haven't you used any of your fathers breakthroughs in alchemy? And not that fake wood to gold, I'm talking his healing alchemy he pioneered in."

"Allura?" Pidge asked, confused.

Allura knew she was boxed in by Lotor, she wanted to hate him right now, but she knew he was right. Deep down she knew. "Yes, okay. I may know a way to heal Keith faster, same way I have helped nurse all of you back to health over the years."

Pidge was shocked to hear this, shocked and angry, angry at the fact her friend held out on the information that she could help Keith "Then why haven't you? Every second is a defining moment for Keith! And your risking his life by holding out?! What changed?"

"You really want to know?" Lotor began "It's because she's racist, she hates any one with even a speck of Galra in them. All because one Galra did a bad thing, one Galra did her wrong and she instantly grew to hate everyone else of our race."

"Yes fine! I saw Keith differently when I learnt he was Galra! Are you happy? Yes, I'm prejudiced against the Galra people, that is why I have been on edge our entire time here, why I have been giving Kolivan such a hard time."

"I can't believe you…" Pidge was right up in Alluras face now "You didn't immediately try saving Keith, when you knew you could at least give it a shot, just because of his heritage? I really thought you were a better person than that."

"Pidge I-"

"Don't talk to me." The small girl cut her off "If Keith dies, it's your fault. And I swear, I will never forgive you. And you better not come anywhere near me." Pidges face was a bright shade of red, she wanted to yell so much more to her 'friend'. But she wanted to see her boyfriend even more.

Pidge marched into the room not giving Allura a second look. Krolia just glared at her in disapproval before joining Pidge inside, Shiro and Lance both looked at Allura with sad expressions on their faces, Shiro disappointed in his friend. Lance disappointed in the girl he loved. Then, they two walked inside the room.

The general thought running through all four of their minds was sadness, Zaizan did not sugarcoat it a bit. Seeing Keith with all different kinds of wires, tubes, and electrodes hooked up to him was a depressing sight to say the least.

"My God, I mean I've seen a lot of surgeries… but Keith just looks so vulnerable. I mean, yeah that Zaizan dude warned us, but him just laying there with the tube going down his throat… I-" Lance began before looking away from his friend.

Shiro just walked up and placed his hand on Lance's shoulder "He'll be alright Lance. Keith, he always pulls through no matter what. I should know, I watched over him for enough years." Shiro laughed as he took a glance at Keith, then he too felt sad again. "Yeah, I- I'm worried for him too."

Pidge and Krolia listened to the machines beeping, just the ever so slow rise and fall of the machines sound. Every now and then it seemed to change the rhythm, either hesitating for a fraction of a second or speeding up to two beeps at a single time, and with each difference causing the two ladies to panic.

"I'm never going to forgive her." Pidge spat, still staring at Keith.

"Believe me Katie, I'm incredibly angry at Allura. But you and I both know Keith would not want us to be upset with her forever. He would want you two to remain close, and me to become close with her." Krolia hugged the small girl lightly.

"I know, but she literally could have risked his life. Just because of his heritage, she would have been more than happy to help before she found out… How could I forgive her for her- her- stupidity!" the amber-eyed girl growled. They then heard a knock at the door.

"May I step in right now?" Lotor asked.

"Yeah Lotor, come on Lance. Let's step out right now." Shiro said as he and the Cuban boy walked out.

"Apologies" Lotor began "But Allura and I really should not be in close proximity for extended periods of time. I also wanted to see how Keith was, and I'm sorry he is like this. If I worked a little faster maybe he would not have to be hooked up like this."

"You did your best I'm sure Lotor." Pidge said sincerely.

"Maybe so, but best is not always good enough." Lotor looked at the man he helped save "Forgive me if I speak out of line, but he looks like someone who is very arrogant and stubborn. If I'm right, I'm sure he'll pull through in no time."

Pidge laughed at what he said "You're not wrong, he's one of the most stubborn guys I know. But in a good way, y'know. I think that's one of the things I find charming about him." The small brunette sighed as she looked at him.

Krolia smiled _They're completely infatuated with each other_ she thought to herself.

"Hey Lotor" Pidge began as she took her eye off of Keith "what is it between you and Allura?"

Lotors stoic expression faltered for just a second before going back to normal "That is a topic I'm not entirely sure you would like to explore. But if you truly want to know, I'll tell you."

"I'm all ears."

"We used to be best friends, she and I. Just like you and Keith, our families were close. We grew up with each other, caring for one another, all that. Eventually our friendship grew to be more."

"If that's the case, why does she want to rip your throat out. And hate you enough to not help Keith just because he's half-Galra like you? Like I get break-ups can be tough but still."

"In all honesty? It was a misunderstanding. One that began with my father and his 'Empire'. You see, he is the one responsible for her fathers death. And most of her relatives, for that matter. When I learned what he was doing. I took as much of her family as I could and hid them away. She mistook it as me kidnapping them and torturing them, similar to what my father would have done. So you see, she hates me because I am my fathers son, and for my fathers actions. The actions of a man I sorely hate." He finished bitterly.

Pidge was surprised at the deep backstory of this feud, honestly it sounded like an anime or video-game plotline more than real life. "She's never talked about any of that to us, just that her father passed, and she lives with her godfather Coran. And you tried to explain this to her?"

"Yes, but she will not listen to reason. Even if someone else were to try and explain it she would write it off as me getting into their heads to manipulate her."

"Can you really blame her though? I mean her father was murdered by your father, and from the intel we have they couldn't even have a proper burial because there wasn't anything left of him." Krolia interjected, catching both of the other two off guard.

"As I've said, I am not my father! He is a cruel, heartless bastard! A monster from a place that Hell itself probably couldn't compare too. There is no reason for her to hate me! There is no reason- no reason for me to have lost my best friend."

Pidge began to approach Lotor but then something stopped her _Somethings not right…_ "Get that doctor back in here!"

"Katie what are you-" then Keith's machine let out a single long beep, signifying he started to flatline. "ZAIZAN!" Krolia shouted at the top of her lungs.

The door then busted open, but it was not who they were expecting.

"What's wrong?"  
"What's happening?"

Lance and Shiro asked at the same time before they noticed Keith convulsing on his bed, machines no longer giving his heartrate, then they all ran in. Lance, Shiro, Hunk, Matt, and Allura, the 'dog' as Zaizan called him waited at the doorway, cocking his head to the side.

"Out of the way!" Allura commanded as she ran up to her friend.

"What are you doing?!" Pidge asked.

"Making up for lost time. Now, give me space." Allura then placed her hands on Keith, one on his forehead and one on his chest. Within seconds her 'birthmarks' on her face began to glow, as did her hands. **(A/N: Allura decided to use that as a cover for her markings on her face)** "Come on Keith! Snap out of it, hang in there!"

"What's going on here?!" Zaizan asked as he finally arrived "I told you four at a time, and all eight of you are in here now? Get out and let us work!"

"Shut it!" Allura barked at the man "I'm trying to save my friend, so just… shut up and let me focus." Allura kept putting all of her mental attention into her endeavor and within moments Keith stabilized once more.

"He- he should be fiiiii"

"Someone catch her, she's about to pass out."

Both Lance and Lotor went to catch the falling woman, both narrowly succeeding.

"Don't worry we got you." Lance said to her.

"It has been a while since I've had to do that, I'm getting rusty." She told them as they stood her back up "Keith shouldn't require the forced oxygen within the hour, he should wake up within the next twenty-four hours. The keywords in that sentence being shouldn't and should. So, keep an eye on him. I should not have let it go this far." She spoke as she walked back into the hallway.

Lotor stood there with everyone else, astonished at what just transpired "She actually used her fathers alchemy… Amazing."

Pidge looked after her friend, she wanted to follow her. She wanted to thank her for finally helping Keith. But then one word stuck out in her mind _Finally_ , just because Allura did it, it did not mean she deserved to be thanked. Not yet anyway. Not in Pidges mind.

So instead she went and stood by Keith's side. "Was Allura telling the truth Lotor? Will he really be able to not need all this in an hours' time?"

"In all honesty it's really hard to say, I have faith in her healing abilities, but to put a time frame on it… that's another question entirely." He mused it over in his head "But if she says so, then I'd expect it to be true."

"Good." Pidge finished flatly as she walked out of the room.

"Where's she going?" Lance asked.

"To have a talk with Allura is my guess." Shiro answered.

* * *

"Y'know, I should really slap you right now." Pidge spoke quietly. "Any longer and I would've lost Keith for the second time. And we would've never been in that situation if you had just healed Keith to begin with."

"I know, Pidge."

"Do you really? Do you truly understand that? Because you nearly let him die because of his heritage, not even something he could help, but something he was born with. Do you know how much I want to hate you right now, but I can't do it. Even if you took too long to do it, you still ended up saving Keith."

"I'm sorry Katie! I truly am." Allura broke down "I let my personal problems with Lotor come between my friendship with you all. Not just that but I let it cloud my judgement so much that I actively bothered Kolivan and the Blades. I nearly let Keith die, all because I was short-sighted." The darker girl then began crying into her hands, light sobs filling the rather soundless area.

The two just sat there together for a moment, neither really knowing what to say to the other.

Minutes passed, finally Allura was able to get herself to calm down. "I can't believe I let this happen. All because of the issues Lotor and I have with each other."

"Speaking of which, I decided to ask him what the deal between you was, and he told me. From what I've heard, it honestly sounds like a real misunderstanding."

"Please, you really believe his 'I did it to protect them' spiel. He's just as bad as his father."

"I'm not so sure about that Allura, I've been working in close proximity of him for days. He acted very out of character for himself when I asked him to explain. He was emotional, and he seems to hate his father as much as you do."

"I don't know Pidg-"

"I'm not asking you to run back into his arms, because you and Lance make a good couple, but maybe you should at least talk with him without threatening to kill him. I'm sure he could use his old best friend back, just like you could. He'd benefit from having a decent person around him, and you may just see passed you hatred for all Galra. It's just something to think about." The amber-eyed girl finished, as she walked back into Keith's room, leaving her white-haired friend alone with her thoughts.

"So, everything good between you two?" Matt asked his sister "You guys were out there for a while, then everything got quiet."

"We'll be fine, what about Keith?"

"Zaizan said that he should be fine, projections show that Keith will indeed be able to have his oxygen tube taken away. Honestly he was quite amazed." Krolia spoke up.

"That was his amazed? He looked completely unphased." Hunk interjected.

"Yeah, I'd hate to see what his upset looks like." Lance uttered.

Shiro just laughed along with the others "Be nice you two."

"Yes dad!" they replied in a mocking tone.

Within minutes Zaizan and another Galra walked in "I am going to have to ask you all to leave, we will need the space and peace of mind without you breathing down our necks Krolia." Zaizan laughed.

"Fine, we'll be back soon. Take care of my son while I'm gone." She warned with a chuckle "Come along everyone, let's head to the cafeteria. We can get some food, and I can ask even more things if you wouldn't mind."

As they walked out Allura stopped Lance "Where is everyone going?"

"To get some food while they take care of Keith for a minute. Krolia is going to do some more digging into all of our histories with Keith. So that will be fun." He wrapped his hand in hers "Come on, you need to get back on Krolias good side anyways." Lance laughed as they went along with the group.

* * *

"So after you three, who's next?" Krolia asked as they all gathered around a table to eat.

"Well, fast-forward another month or so and you have me and Lance. I had already known Pidge beforehand, and Lance already knew me. So one day while Lance and I were hanging out, Pidge invited me over to work on something. It would have been rude of me to just leave Lance, and since I'm not rude I brought him along with me and-"

"Hunk, buddy-pal, you're rambling. Please allow me to tell this tale." Lance said in his usual overdramatic fashion.

* * *

("Fair warning, if Pidge and Keith's first meeting was 'not graceful' then ours was very lack-luster. So anyways we were hanging out at Hunks house, because my mom was working and she knew Hunks mom for a long time.")

"Son, you have a phone call!" Hunks mom yelled from inside the house.

"Kay, be right back Lance." The small Hunk said to his friend as he walked.

After a short moment, Hunk came back outside with the phone in hand "Hey Lance, you cool with going to another house? Another friend needs my help with a project."

"Hey I have no problem with it. You know me, always up for adventure!"

"Yeah Pidge, I can be there soon. See ya then."

"Pidge… that's your buddy, he's a super genius or something, right?"

Hunk just smiled as he pulled his friend along "Yeah, SHE'S a super genius." He said stressing 'she'. This caused Lance to perk up.

"Oh, she huh?"

"Don't get any ideas Lance, you are definitely unqualified for the part." Hunk teased as they reached the front of his house "We'll be back later mom!" he called out. One small bike ride later and the two boys arrived, Hunk knocking on the door.

"Oh hello Hunk, who's your friend?" Colleen asked as she answered the door.

"His name is Lance, we were already hanging out when Pidge invited me over, I hope you don't mind I brought him along."

"Of course I don't mind dear. Come on in, though I must request you be quiet. We have a guest sleeping on the couch at the moment."

"Uh… it's like one-thirty pm, who could be sleeping at this time, Matt?" Hunk asked jokingly.

"You know our neighbor? Takashi Shirogane?"

"Yeah he-"

"You're neighbor is Shiro the hero?!" Lance shouted in excitement. "Oh, sorry…" the boy placed his hands over his mouth.

"Yes, well his kid is sleeping. They needed him to come into the garrison late last night, so we let Keith stay here?"

Lance put his face to his chin as if to think "Keith, Keith, wait a minute… Keith Kogain?"

"Yes, my name is Keith Kogain. Who are you, and why are you so loud?" the boy on the couch grunted as he rose from his sleep, his hair all nappy. "Oh wait, I remember you, you were that loud annoying kid at that crappy school. How's James' face?"

"He got ISS and a some major punishments from the school and his parents apparently, he hasn't caused much more trouble since. But you still have that mop of a mullet, huh?"

Keith just growled, throwing the blanket off his body "My hair is fine. Thank you, Colleen, for letting me stay here through out the night. I owe you guys one, let Pidge know I'll see her later for me?"

"Of course, and you don't owe us anything at all. Also feel free to come back for dinner tonight if Shiro can't make it home in time. We can't have you living off of Pizza Rolls forever." She laughed as she opened the door for him.

"So that's the famous Keith, that Pidge always talks about, huh?" Hunk chuckled "He seems cool, but he doesn't seem like much of a people person."

"The running joke around here is he is just a cat in human form, there's only two people he shows affection to, Katie and Shiro. I'm pretty sure I caught him letting out a small purr when he and Katie fell asleep on the trampoline outside together." The mother Holt laughed "Do you boys want a snack or drink, while you wait? Katie should be back soon, she and Matt had to run to the hardware store for some supplies."

* * *

"So that was how we first met… Really, really, uneventfully. Eventually Hunk and I started hanging out with Pidge more as a trio, and Keith got all jealous so he hopped in too." Lance recapped all of the events for Krolia.

"Though not before he asked to build something with me, exclusively." Pidge smirked "He is a very jealous boy. But thankfully so, otherwise if he didn't ask to build something with me, we would have never been able to save you two." She finished laughing.

Krolia chuckled "He can't help the thought of jealousy, it's pretty much genetic for him."

Pidge cocked her head to the side "Oh?"

"It's no real twist that we Galra resemble animals, and just like some predatory creatures like- let's say lions for example- we are very much 'pack oriented' without other people to keep us sane we can be aggressive, angry, etcetera. And we get very jealous when we feel other people are trying to take our 'pack' away from us."

"That makes WAY too much sense." Shiro said, causing he and Pidge to laugh.

"Did you have problems with him growing up?"

Pidge and Shiro just turned to each other and laughed "He is a ridiculously clingy person, he would follow me around like a lost puppy for the first few weeks of he and I living together." Shiro started.

"And he is a major cuddler, almost overly so. Though I always thought all of those quirks were because of his abandonment issues… Oh, sorry."

"No offense taken," Krolia smiled "but have you ever noticed how we Blades are much calmer than most other Galra? There's a much higher quantity of us in a single area." The woman finished explaining. She then did a quick recount in her head, she learned out Shiro, Matt, and Katie all met Keith. Then she heard from Lance and Hunk. That meant the only one left to hear from was Allura, but if she were being honest, she wanted to wait longer before interacting with her. Yes, Allura did save her son, but she still risked him. Something like that is not forgiven so easily in her mind, even though she gave the whole speech to Pidge about forgiving her earlier.

Allura could sense the glare Krolia was giving her, the glare she knew she deserved. But she didn't say anything, just submissively looking down at her meal before Lance placed his hand on her leg and smiled reassuringly.

"Allura?" Krolia put on a smile "What about you, how did you meet Keith and the others?"

"Oh, I couldn't possibly bore you with the details."

"Please, I heard everyone else, it'd be rude of me not to hear you."

"Oh, um- well if you insist." Allura quietly spoke before beginning her retelling. Minutes passed, but the time was long, Allura had to explain about why she moved to the area in the first place, then actually about how she ran into the others.

Even though Krolia wanted to continue being upset, just like with the others she loved to hear more of the history her son had shared with them all.

 **(A/N: it's not just because I'm lazy that I skipped over Alluras, but I really can't think of a good story at the moment. Plus the document is currently at 77 pages and just under 37,000 words. I don't want it to be bloated with backstories so I'll save hers for later. Hope you all understand! Now on with the story!)**

"Thank you Allura, for that story. Thank you all for telling me about my own sons childhood." Krolia smiled at everyone.

"It was our pleasure, quite honestly it's been awhile since we've dragged up any of those old memories. It felt, good." Allura smiled, everyone else agreeing with her.

"I can't believe we all forgot about that ridiculous accent Keith had as a kid." Lance laughed.

Krolia waved her hand and smiled "Oh that was definitely from his father. It was quite fun poking fun at his father when we first started our relationship."

"Speaking of which, shall we all return to check on Keith's progress?" Lotor suggested.

"Yes, oh and Lotor? I apologize for nearly killing you earlier."

"It was seriously no trouble, I have that happen quite a lot actually. But none-the-less thank you, and I accept the apology." Lotor waved her off, giving a small smirk.

Most of the group just shook their heads "Can we all agree on two thigs first? One: that that statement makes way too much sense. Two: Lotor and Keith will most likely get along just fine." Matt spoke up, to which everyone agreed in unison.

* * *

After the short walk, the gang made their way back to the room where Keith was held. As they walked up Zaizan and another Blade walked out "Oh, good. I don't have to send for you."

"So… were you able to take him off the machines without any trouble?" Krolia questioned.

"Yes, there were zero complications. He's a strong one, similar to you. But we did check on his brain, due to the toxic air and lack of oxygen, there may be some side-effects."

"Like what?" Pidge asked, her voice laced with slight panic.

Zaizan sighed "There are many common symptoms, but here is what we suggest you should look out for the most: Changes in mood are quite common, if he seems happy one moment, then explodes we suggest you do not take it personally. He may have difficulty with memory, that could be anything from his own life to mixing you all up. He may become more impulsive and less filtered for a time, if that's the case just try and calm him down and explain the situation. He may become anxious or depressed because of all these as well. Finally, there is a high chance he may struggle with motor skills or speech patterns such as muscle spasms, and forgetting the proper words for context or skipping them entirely causing the sentence to sound broken, in those events, just guide him to the words he's thinking of." The huge doctor finished as he left the group to themselves.

It was quiet for a moment then Shiro spoke up "He's going to hate this struggle, I know him, and the moment he loses control of any thing Zaizan just mentioned, Keith is going to flip."

Pidge walked to him and reached to place her hand on his shoulder "But we'll be there for him to help. Right guys?" she turned to the others.

"Right." Hunk smiled.

"Of course!" Allura perked up.

"He wouldn't let me struggle alone, like hell I'd let him. You know I'll be there to help." Lance winked.

"Hey, mom wants him as a son-in-law, and I've known him for most of his life. She and I are both going to do our best to help." Matt gave a thumbs up.

"Though you do not know me too well, and I do not know him, you can count on me and a few of my people to do what we can." Lotor bowed slightly.

Krolia was at a loss for words as she looked between Shiro and Katie, and the rest of the group "Thank you everyone." Was all she was able to choke out with a smile.

"I should be going soon, my own group should be worrying about me by now since it has been so long since I arrived here. Though I have exchanged information with some of you, so when you get him home please call me and we will be there as soon as we can." Lotor arose from his bow.

Pidge began to walk over to him, but she was cut off by someone unexpected, Lotor himself was surprised.

"Thank you, Lotor. We owe you a great deal. You honestly had no reason to help me and my friends, yet you still did." Allura extended her arm out.

"It was my honor to help." Lotor took her outstretched hand "I hope that one day we can get the old gang back together, they all miss you too, you know? But until then, farewell for now." Lotor smiled as he walked away.

"You all should make your way home soon as well." Krolia informed them.

"You can't possibly think we'll leave Keith here all alone now that he's back?" Lance asked incredulously.

"I know how you feel about that idea, but as Lotor said you all have been here for a long time. I'm sure your families miss you, and Keith will not be alone. I will be right by his side, and I personally promise the second he is able to make it home, I will take him to you."

"Krolia-"

"No Katie, like I said your mother will be missing you, besides she would probably like an update on Keith herself. I will bring Keith back to you all, Allura said he should regain consciousness in the next day or so. Hopefully I can convince Zaizan to release him to his loved ones, all of you, in the next few days."

"O-Okay, but let us say goodbye please." Pidge begged.

"Even if I had a good reason to, I wouldn't dream of stopping you all." Krolia smiled at the small girl as her sons friends all gathered around him, everyone much relieved to see him with just a few machines to keep his vitals monitored.

One by one all his friends said goodbye to his unconscious self.

"Come home soon mullet." Lance said as he placed a hand gently on Keith's shoulder.

"I'm sorry I didn't help you sooner Keith, please make it back to us so I can make it up to you…" Allura spoke as she kissed her hand, then tapping his forehead.

"Hey man, I promise that by the time you come home, I'll have a feast prepared for you. All of your favorite foods!" Hunk excitedly voiced.

"I'm going to need you to make your way back fast, I can't take care of Shiro, Katie, and my mom all on my own. See you soon bro." Matt tapped his hand against Keith's in a makeshift fist bump.

All that was left was Shiro and Pidge, both feeling the other deserved to be the last one to say goodbye, but also wanting it for themselves too. Eventually Shiro conceded and made his way to Keith first.

"You came to check on me every day I was in the hospital for weeks, looks like I won't be able to return the favor… just come back to me Keith. Me and Pidge, we both need you around." Shiro placed his good hand on Keith's head and slowly ruffled his hair "Guess he's too old for me to do that now, huh?" he laughed as he walked back, letting Pidge finally have her turn.

"Emo, I swear with how much stress you put on me… you're going to be the death of me." She chuckled "Just know I love you, and even though we'll most likely have some struggles for the foreseeable future, I will continue to love you and be by your side. I'm with you for the long game, so just be ready for me to be the clingy one for a while when you come back."

Krolia gave one last smirk to her sons extended family before she guided them to a plane to take them home "Just remember, we'll be back with you all soon."

Pidge just gave her a hug and whispered something in her ear before hopping on the plane.

Like that, they were gone. Once again, she was left to watch over her son again. But this time, she was even more excited, because now when he was ready, she could go with him to be a part of their family for real.

"So Krolia" Kolivan began "Let's discuss your reassignment. You've been through enough these past seventeen years, it's time I the Blades give you your freedom to be with your family."

"Nineteen years for me Kolivan" Krolia smiled "and thank you. I will always be a Blade. But now, I have to be with my son."

"I know, that is why I am relinquishing him from his services to the Blades along with you, he wasn't ready and now you both suffered. So both of you are now on reservation only. By that, I mean at the bottom of the list so we will only call you two away from them if we're desperate. Congratulations." He finished with his usually reserved yet sincere smile.

"Thank you" Krolia said in surprise "are you free to wait around Keith with me? From what Zaizan said about all of the mental difficulties he is at current risk of, he may need a little extra reassurance about the good news."

"I'll make the time for you two."

So the commander and his former agent walked back to the med bay together.

* * *

After a few hours flight, everyone had made it back home. Allura was the first to be dropped off at her mansion, with Coran already waiting outside for her. Next Lance and Hunk were dropped at Lances' family restaurant. Finally Shiro and the Holt siblings were dropped back at their homes, the three bidding farewell to their pilot as they hopped off.

"You're all finally home!" Colleen shouted as she hugged the three "Wait, where's Keith? Don't tell me you couldn't get him back…" the mother asked worried.

"No, we got him back mom." Pidge smiled with tears of joy "It's just there were some complications, and he ended up getting hurt. He's in recovery and should be able to come home in a few days."

Colleen dropped her worried look "That's amazing! Oh and Shiro, don't worry about your house. While you all have been gone, I did some stress cleaning."

"Thank you, Colleen." Shiro said gratefully.

"Come on in, you all have been gone for almost two weeks. Tell me everything that happened and tell me about Keith. Oh, did you all get his mom back with him? Were they alike? Did she seem like she was a good person?"

"Jeez mom, it's not twenty questions. But let me get changed out of this armor the-" and like that Pidges clunky armor dissipated and she was left with just the skin tight black leotard underneath, before she remembered the disk on her back "Oh yeah, nanotech. forgot about that." She said as she walked inside and to her room to change into some more loose clothing. She folded up the suit and placed it in the corner.

"Okay, so what all did you tell her while I was getting dressed?"

"We only got about as far as how almost immediately after we got there Keith made a new message. He and his mom were in another dimension, and the only way to get to them was to get the smartest man in the world to help us." Matt explained.

"Okay good, I can take it from here." Pidge replied.

* * *

"So yeah, it took a little over a week for all of us to build the machine, and then Keith sent one last message about how he was running out of time. I then went through, brought him back, then he was immediately rushed to the medical bay where he still is. Allura healed him with some sort of alchemy, we all talked with Krolia about how we met and grew up with Keith. And now we're home." Pidge summarized the events.

"You're forgetting one crucial detail baby sis, something that you panicked over, remember?" Matt chimed in.

"Oh? And what would that be?" Colleen asked.

"Okay, so you remember how I said in the other dimension time moves differently? And how Keith was in there for almost two years?"

"Yes…" Colleen said hesitantly.

"And you remember how Keith was only a few months older than me before all this happened? Meaning when he turned eighteen, I'd only be a few months behind. So it would still be fine with us dating?"

"Go on."

"Jeez mom, Keith is now twenty almost. I'm still seventeen for a few more months, meaning technically it's illegal for him to date me. But as far as the world knows he's just eighteen that now looks twenty. Anyways I started freaking out about it because I don't want to break up with him, but this is really a strange set of circumstances." Pidge finished as she gasped for breath, she had unintentionally kept talking until she had no air left.

"Oh… that." Colleen said awkwardly.

"Yeah, Matt and I eventually calmed her down stating 'By the public record Keith is only eighteen, even if he aged up in an alternate dimension, by this worlds standards he's eighteen still.' Then we, with the help of Krolia, also mentioned that as long as both parties legal guardians agree to it, it should be fine. I said I'm fine with it, just because of how unique the situation is. I wouldn't normally condone a twenty year old dating a minor, but I wanted to help Pidge and Keith find loopholes so they can stay together. And after some teasing Krolia agreed as well." Shiro laughed.

"What kind of teasing?" Colleen asked, but judging from how her daughters face flushed red, she didn't need to ask.

"Basically, she said as long as they didn't bone until she's eighteen, she supports them staying together. I'm paraphrasing but that's the jist of her point of view." Matt started laughing hard again remembering when Krolia first said that.

Colleen herself had to struggle not to laugh audibly because her daughter was already flustered enough "I have to say, I agree to those same terms. No doing any of that until at least a day after your eighteenth birthday. At the earliest. If you two can manage that, then I will continue to allow you to stay together."

Pidge grew a smile behind her blush before awkwardly hugging her mom "I promise none of that will happen!"

"Good, now is there anything else I need to know?" Colleen questioned one last time.

"Side-effects." Shiro thought aloud.

"I'm sorry?"

"Due to the toxic environment over there, and the oxygen deprivation, Keith may have some mental difficulties as side-effects until he regains his bearings." Shiro explained.

"Like what?"

The three had then gone over a checklist.

"Lack of impulse control." "Severe mood swings." "Difficulty with memory."  
"Struggling to maintain motor skills." "He may have trouble with speech patterns." "And all of those symptoms may cause him to have anxiety or depression since he won't be in total control of himself." They had all finished.

"Alright, so we'll just need to keep this place as peaceful as possible for him. Hopefully by his eighteen- er, twentieth birthday he'll be in better shape. But that's stills a few weeks away so no need to really worry about it now. For now, you all need to rest, I doubt that Blade of whatever base had the coziest accommodations."

"You're not entirely wrong there, I mean it was passable, but the beds were so uncomfortable. Also all the beautiful women were rather distracting." Matt said as his mom glared at him "What? It's not like I did anything, that place is more strict than the garrison, I couldn't even if I tried."

"So I'll leave you to this, I'm heading home. Thank you, Colleen, again for cleaning my place." Shiro spoke as he retreated to the house next door.

"You're welcome Shiro, sleep well. Kids, I'll see you both tomorrow. Sleep well." Their mom said as she went to her room.

"Night" the two said in unison. Matt began walking to his room before he noticed his sister was still on the couch.

"What's the matter Pidgeon?" he chuckled.

"You haven't called me that in years" she laughed "It's nothing, just… when we told mom about all the struggles Keith may have to face when he comes back. I just- he's already been through so much in his life. Why does he keep having more and more stuff happen to him? I just want him to have it easy for a little while. Y'know?"

"I hear you, and I don't know Katie. Sometimes some people just have really bad stuff happen when they don't deserve it, but like we said at the Blades place, if he struggles we'll lift him up. That's all we can do, just be his support, his rock, his… pack." He smiled as he hugged his baby-sis. "You've been his world since Shiro and I both brought him here all that time ago, you are his pack, Krolia saw it. That's why she used that metaphor. But now, we're all going to be his pack. Okay?"

"Okay, thank you Matt." Pidge smiled sincerely at her older brother as she returned the hug. "Okay, let's listen to mom for once and get some rest."

"Agreed."


	7. Chapter 7

"Just let me go- just let me go- ugh!" Keith shouted in aggravation. His pet wolf rose from the ground to see why there was sudden yelling before going right back to sleep.

Krolia just gently put her hand on his shoulder "Calm down, Keith. Just think. Where do you want to go?" she did not really need to ask, there's only been one place her son has wanted to go in the past few days. Usually he has been able to say the word, but right now he seemingly just could not focus on it.

"I know the word! Just let me think dammit!" he snapped, lashing out at his mother once again.

"I know just take a breath and focus." The woman spoke, trying to calm her son.

"Home, let me go home… please." He pleaded turning to look at both his mother and Kolivan.

The man let out a simple sigh "We can't Keith, not until Zaizan gives you permission."

"I'm perfectly capable right now."

"Walk over there and get the phone." His mom told him.

"What?"

"Walk over there, grab the phone, and tell your friends we'll be back today. If you can do that, then we'll leave right now. To hell with what Zaizan says."

"Finally." Keith said confidently as he climbed out of his bed, as he tried to take a step his leg faltered and he dipped a bit, but he happened to catch himself in time and continued over to his phone. "Now to tell them the good news." And as he pulled the phone up to his ear… he lost it.

The three of them then heard a small crash as they looked at the phone on the ground, Keith had mixed emotions clearly visible on his face. He was angry, obviously, but he was also disappointed. He felt he would ever get out of here. "I just want to go home. I know I'll be better if I can see them."

"See who?" Krolia questioned again, this was part of the therapy Zaizan suggested. Ask questions, make him think fuller sentences, guide him if he ca not do it on his own.

"Them! My friends, who else would I talk about?!"

"That's enough Keith!" Krolia yelled, finally having enough "I have tried being patient, I have tried because I had an understanding that you may struggle. But clearly you won't listen to me acting sweetly, so maybe you'll listen when I shout! Now lay back down and wait for Zaizan to release you."

Keith had a shocked expression on his face, he spent a full two years with his mom by now and not once had she ever raised her voice at him. He really did not know how to react, so he simply obliged and sat in his bed again.

Krolia honestly felt bad, she almost went to apologize to her son, but she decided against it, feeling it was better to just let the first time of her really needing to discipline her son end right there.

"Now who do you want to see? Think about their names and tell me."

Keith took in a deep breath, he knew their names but he just could not get himself to say it for some reason "La- Lane? No… that's not his name! Ugh… Lance- Lance!" he said happily.

"Good." His mom smiled "Who else?"

The boy struggled a bit more "Shiro. Lara? Hunk?"

"Two out of three, her name isn't Lara, it's Allura."

"Uh-Lurra… Allura." He let a small smile grow again.

"Who else? There's one more, she's the most important person in the world to you. Can you tell me what her name is?" She didn't like making her son struggle, but it was for his own good, his own form of therapy.

Keith grew cocky "Of course, I couldn't forget my own girlfriends name. It's… um- Kalee? Katie! Her name is Katie. How could I struggle with her name?"

"It's okay, it's not like you completely forgot her."

"It's not fine! It makes me angry, I can't even say name's properly!"

Now it was time for Kolivan to step up "If you want to leave, you have to stay calm. Zaizan won't release you otherwise."

Keith huffed but leaned back "Okay."

"I'll go ask and see what's taking so long." The man said as he left the mother-son duo in the room.

"What's wrong with me?" the boy asked after staying quiet for a bit.

"Nothing is wrong, it will just take time for you to heal. That's all, so just take it easy."

"How could I take it easy? I'm practically useless, I barely have control over my body anymore. I can't remember my friends' names. I can't even talk pro- properly all the time. To top it off I'm going crazy being stuck here, I just want to be with my family. They worried about me for months, I can't have them worrying anymore."

"All of that is why I am releasing you. It's obvious you aren't taking too kindly to these accommodations, maybe having others around you can aid in your recovery." Zaizan said as he and Kolivan walked in, then the doctor turned to Krolia asking her to follow him to the side real fast. Once a fair bit of distance away, he continued "If anything too bad happens. Bring him back, if it's absolutely urgent, take him to an ER and call me or Kolivan and I'll be right there to aid as his primary."

"Thank you Zaizan, is there anything else?"

"Yes, when he begins to get angry, not if- when, make sure you check him over after he lashes out. One more symptom I forgot involves the area of the brain in charge of pain, he can either ignore it entirely or he may just not respond to it for a delayed period of time." The man warned.

"Thank you, and I'll be sure to let the others know to watch for that too. And thank you for releasing him. I honestly feel he will only get worse if he were to say here."

"I don't know about worse, but I doubt he will make any significant progress staying here. Take care of him and alert us if you need us. The Blades always watch out for their own."

"That we do." The woman smiled as she shook his hand.

The two then returned to see Kolivan and Keith, the older man helping the younger stay on his feet since he seemed a bit wobbly "I'm just excited." He laughed playing it off, before calling his four-legged friend follow following after them.

* * *

"Well we're gonna have to do something!" Lance complained.

"I know, but definitely not that." Pidge shot him down.

"Why not? The man would love it." Matt chimed in from the living room.

"Thank you, Matt!"

"Lance the point is to keep him out from being in a stressful environment. There is no way we are taking Keith paintballing for his birthday." Allura informed him.

Lance turned to see Shiro, Matt, and Hunk in the living room of the Holt residence watching TV with Colleen. "Shiro what do you say? Paintball for Keith's birthday, yay or nay?"

"Look, I know him. He hates his birthday, would he maybe like a high-adrenaline thing like paintball? Maybe."

"Yes!" Lance interrupted.

"But I still say no. Like Allura just said, no stress. Besides, once again, the guy hates celebrating his birthday. We all know this. The closest time he ever got to enjoying himself was that year he faked having the flu so we wouldn't bother. Except one of us." Shiro laughed turning his head to face the auburn-haired girl.

Pidge just smiled "What can I say? I wanted to take care of my friend on his special day. Plus even if he were actually sick, which I knew instantly he wasn't, I have a great immune system.

"Well we have to do something, even though he hates it, a birthday is a birthday. Meaning no way is there absolutely not going to be a celebration. So I vote we at least have some fun with it." Lance smirked.

"What'd you have in mind?" Pidge squinted.

"Okay, so basically we make four cakes of different sizes. A small cupcake for his eighteenth birthday for the original one he missed, a slightly bigger 'personal' size for his nineteenth birthday he missed, and two normal sizes for his eighteenth-twentieth birthday for this upcoming one that is technically both."

"That is way too much cake! There is no way I'm baking all of that by myself!" Hunk hollered from the common area.

Pidge thought on it for a second "You have to admit Hunk, that is a rather impressive idea. Especially coming from Lance."

"Yeah- wait, hey!" Lance pouted from the insult.

"Make it three cakes, cupcake, personal, and one big one cut in half for both. And I'll think about it. But we still have to address the fact once more. Keith hates celebrating his birthday, I don't want to put in the work just for the cakes to be wasted."

"Let's face it, the cake is the only thing he ever really likes about his birthday." Shiro smirked.

"Plus, maybe he'll be a little happier to do celebrate now that his mom is in his life again?" Matt suggested never taking his eyes off the TV.

They all just looked all him for a second before individually thinking about it "That could be true, but let's still not make a big deal about it. Let's just make the cakes and go swimming, basically treat it as any other day but with cake and a few gifts. Sound good guys?" Pidge suggested.

"Seems like the best course of action to me." Shiro agreed.

"Ok well I already have his gift from me, so you all better get to work on fighting for his second favorite gift." Pidge laughed.

"I vote Pidge can't give a gift because Keith will be biased… all in agreement say aye." Lance stood up.

"Aye!" Lance, Allura, Matt, Shiro, and Hunk said in unison, all laughing after doing so.

"You heard it Pidge, I'm afraid your going to have to return your gift. Hope you kept the receipt." Lance smiled.

Pidge just summoned her new favorite toy, her bayard, and held it to Lances throat "Sorry his gift was custom made. No returns."

Lance just gulped in fear "Fine but give yours after so we can have a fighting chance at least."

"Maybe." Pidge smirked as she dispelled her weapon and sat back down.

With Lance complaining about the threat, and Pidge not caring it was almost too loud for Shiro to hear his phone going off "Hey guys, shhh. Hello?" he answered it "Really? That's wonderful. Thanks for the notice." He smiled as he hung up the phone. "So good news guys, Keith will get to come home tonight."

"Really?!" Pidge and Lance asked with glee, Allura and Hunk smiling at their excitement.

"Yeah, that was Kolivan. Zaizan released Keith into the care of his mother and us, but the reason for doing so is not because he is recovering at an amazing rate, but because he sort of stalled in his recovery the past few days. They're hoping being in a different environment will help him a little better." Then his phone dinged with a text message.

"And that's Krolia." He said as he read the message.

"What's it say?" the others asked being nosy.

"Basically, Keith has been really angry at himself the past few days and has started getting upset with others. Apparently, he got so out of hand Krolia actually had to holler at him for the first time ever."

"Does it explain why's he's been angry at himself?" Pidge asked.

"Pretty much because he feels he is useless at the moment, between the motor skill or lack-thereof, and the fact he is not able to always get the right words out, he basically hates himself at the moment."

Pidge frowned "Motor skills and speech, that's two… along with the aggressive behavior. But it's only just those at the moment, right?" she questioned.

"Yeah, those seem to be the only prevalent ones. The aggressive behavior isn't always there apparently. Just whenever he feels sorry for himself. So basically, let's just try and keep him in a good mood, but we all know if he even thinks for a second we're just pitying him, that's just going to make things worse." Shiro finished off, to which everyone just kind of nodded.

"But how can we really go about doing that? Aside from cuddling with Pidge, when is he really in a good mood? It's either passive-aggressive or just aggressive with him." Lance laughed, he didn't really find it funny, but he felt it could just alleviate the tension that would be coming, also just really trying to think of something for Keith.

"Obviously first and foremost, no birthday talk. Second, just go about being normal" Pidge told him before she herself grew a small smirk "I know that may be difficult for you Lance, but at least try."

"Hurtful. Warranted, but hurtful nonetheless."

The group laughed together for the time they waited. "I can't wait to meet Keith's mom, it will be really interesting."

"When will they be here?"

"Depending on their mode of transportation? Couple of minutes to a couple of hours."

* * *

"Keith, son? We'll be arriving soon."

"Hrm." He grunted in respone.

"Keith, words." She said sternly.

"Ok-k-k-kay. Thanks mom." Keith stuttered, he'll be the first to admit he was more than ready to leave the confinement of the Blades. But at the same time he was dreading going back home. He loved his friends but he didn't want them to see him in what he felt was a weak state.

"Just calm down, okay? You'll be fine once we get you home."

"You're- ri… ugh!" he grunted in annoyance "Right. Gosh I can barely speak! How can I go home?!"

Krolia just sighed as she turned down the street in a custom black and purple Cadillac, "You can go home because that's where your friends and loved ones are. People who will love and help you."

"Bu-"

"Shut it! No 'buts' that's enough. You can feel sorry for yourself when there's others. I clearly can't help you feel better, either that or you don't want me to help you. So just please stop worrying about everything. For me?"

"Okay. Sor-sorry."

"It's fine, just stop worrying about every little thing."

"Yes ma'am." Her son said solemnly.

After a few moments they pulled into the driveway of the 'gane' residence. Both noticing that the Holt household was full of guests by the vehicles outside. "Shall we go over?" Krolia questioned.

"M-m-might as well." Keith sighed, before he opened the passenger backdoor to let the Wolf out.

The mother-son duo and their pet then made their way across the yard. Every step feeling like an eternity for the boy. Then came the knock at the door.

"I GOT IT!"

"HEY!?"

"OH SHOVE IT LANCE, HE'S MY BOYFRIEND! NOT YOURS!"

Keith and Krolia couldn't help but smile at what must be utter chaos on the opposite side of the door.

"Keith!" Pidge shouted as she practically jumped on her boyfriend, though it was a real struggle considering he had grown a good six inches or so more, the dog cocked it's head to the side confused as to what they were doing until he decided to go back to sleep like he normally does.

"Hey P-P-Pidge, I missed seeing you!" he said in excitement "I can't believe it's been almost two years since I've actually-" he was cut off by Pidge standing on her tiptoes to give him a kiss.

"Just shut up and let me love you for a moment…" she whispered, wrapping her arms around his neck and hugging him.

After they broke the kiss Keith laughed lightly "Jeez you struggled even before my growth spurt, this is just hilarious."

"Keep making fun of how short I am, and you'll lose kissing privileges for an indefinite period of time." The small auburn-haired girl threatened.

"HA! I went two years without kissing you. That's no threat b-beautiful." He smiled cockily.

"You're going to use that excuse for every threat I give you now, huh?" she jokingly pouted, before staring into his purple-blue eyes.

"M-maybe." He coyly replied, gazing back into her amber eyes.

"Come on in, they can be like that for the next ten to fifteen minutes." Matt joked as he and Shiro lead Krolia inside.

"Mom, this is Krolia. Krolia, this is my mother Colleen." Matt said introducing the two women to each other.

Krolia stuck her hand out "Greetings, I'm-" she was cut off by Colleen taking her hand.

"You really are Keith's mom, huh?" Colleen smirked "Even if you didn't look alike, just the way two act is similar enough. Like I told Keith when we first met, there's no need to be so formal in this household." She finished giving the Galra woman a small hug.

"Oh- um, thank you for your hospitality." Krolia said awkwardly as Colleen led her to a seat on the couch. "So how have you all been?"

"Oh, we've just been discussing some stuff. Nothing really. Or at least nothing we can discuss with Eith-Kay ear-nay I-bay." Matt whispered the last part, pointing to Keith and his sister still gazing into each other's eyes. "He's always been bad at pig-latin."

"Wow, they are really into it, huh?" Krolia laughed.

"Oh yeah" Shiro smiled "maybe just enough we can actually talk."

"So, what's the discussion?"

"Keith's birthday." Lance joined Matt in the whispering fun.

"Is it a surprise party or something?"

"No, it's just Keith really despises celebrating his birthday. Presents, candles the like. All he really wants from the experience is cake."

The Galra woman turned her head to the side "Really? Did he ever give an explanation why?"

"Honestly, no." Shiro shook his head "The first year I decided to surprise him by just looking up his info at the garrison, he appreciated the sentiment but clearly was uncomfortable. The next year he outright just asked us not to celebrate, but we didn't listen, and he got upset. After that he faked the flu to avoid his birthday, the only person to bother him that year is currently making goo-goo eyes with him. Now? We just have him a cake with no candles and leave him money every year, and since he doesn't know who gives how much he can't give it back."

"That's… really strange."

"So that's not a Galra thing?" Lance asked.

"Noooo, not really, when with others we really love to celebrate" Krolia started "Granted there are just some people that like to be alone on their birthday but that's on very rare occasions, just like with normal humans."

"Hm" Lance sounded "Well maybe this year will be different. Maybe he'll actually enjoy himself."

Keith's ears twitched "Who will enjoy what now?" the boy turned around to face everyone else, and now with his gaze off of her Pidge started making dozens of different motions for the others to keep their mouths shut.

"The barber we got to cut that mop on your head, we're pretty sure he'll enjoy himself with that challenge." Lance laughed.

"Will you l-leave my hair alone?!"

"Now they will be going on for a while." Shiro laughed as the two boys went back and forth with each other. "So where will you be staying Krolia? Surely you're not going to be going back and forth between here and the Blades?"

"Actually, I've practically retired from the Blades along with Keith. Kolivan placed us on reserve so we can have our own lives, we'll only be called in when it pretty much last resort. As for where I'll be staying, I saw a motel not too far off from here. Didn't look too bad, so I'll just stay there for the time being."

"Non-sense, you can take our spare room." Collen perked up.

Krolia was surprised "I'd hate to impose, really I can stay at the motel."

"Please I insist, heh it's funny. When Keith first showed up we let him stay here until he was ready, now we're doing it for his mother too." The mother Holt giggled.

Krolia smiled "Thank you… now should we separate those two?" she asked laughing.

* * *

About a week then passed with Keith getting reaccommodated to living close to all of his loved ones again.

"Hey, how ya feeling today?" Pidge asked him as she walked into the 'gane house, which is also where Krolia spent the majority of her time when she wasn't staying with the Holts.

"Um, uh…" he struggled "Fi-fine. I'm doing g-great, Pi-…" He stopped when his mind went blank.

"Pidge." She said flatly.

"I kn- I know Pidge!" Keith shouted, causing her and his mother to back up a bit "… I'm sorry, I shouldn't yell. E-especially at you, I just struggled for a second."

Pidge just gave a small, slightly sad smile "It's fine." She said comfortingly as she approached him, rubbing his back compassionately. "So are you ready for your speech therapy session?"

Since Keith started stalling in the Blades base, when they returned Krolia, Pidge, and Shiro decided to take shifts when helping Keith as to not let his subconscious get bored.

Keith nodded, standing up to follow after her to his room "We'll be right back here mom."

"Okay, I'll see if Takashi or Colleen need me for anything. I'll be checking in on you though, if I feel you two are getting 'distracted'."

"Mom!" Keith yelled, while Pidge tugged at her collar on her shirt while giving a light blush.

Krolia just laughed as she walked outside "Sorry, not sorry son."

"…"

"Did she just-?" Pidge started.

"Yes, she just d-did th-th-that… when did she start talking l-like Lance?"

The smaller girl just shook her head "I do not know." She spoke, taking his hand "But come on, times a wastin'."

With the next forty-five minutes the two really focused, or at least they tried.

"Keith~" Pidge dragged out his name playfully as she 'attempted' to push her boyfriend back as he tried to kiss her "focus~."

"I-I am focused." Keith smiled "F-focused on yo-you, my beautiful girlfriend."

"I'll make you a deal, for every part of your therapy you can do with out getting distracted. I'll kiss you. And, for every part you are able to do without struggling. You can kiss me. Sound fair?"

Keith laughed "P-pretty sure the therapist sh-shouldn't b-bribe their client with affection, you may lose your license for that."

"Keith." She groaned.

"Okay, okay."

"Good. Now, let's use and oldie but a goodie. Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers."

Keith just blankly stared at her "Really?"

"Yes really, now get to it. And remember your prize."

"Okay… Peter P-p-piper picked a peck of pickled p-peppers."

"Not bad flyboy" she teased as she got right up in his face and smiled.

Keith closed his eyes expecting her to kiss him, but instead his lips were met with a finger.

"Nuh-uh-uh. You did good, but that wasn't enough for a kiss."

He let out a small groan "Ugh! Wh-why, do I l-love you again?"

She just shrugged "I dunno, honestly I have no clue. I am a very arrogant person, very loud, not to mention I can be quite the bi-"

"Don't you dare call yourself that!"

Pidge kind of let herself give a small flinch in surprise "What?"

"I don't ever want to hear you call yourself that or anything close to it!"

She lightly placed her hand on his cheek "Keith" she said quietly "I was just joking. Okay?"

Keith just blankly looked at her "I don't care! You're damn near perfect, I can't stand you or anyone else saying otherwise!"

"Alright, sorry. I didn't think that would set you off so much, I didn't plan on you feeling so strong about that."

"Well I do! Okay? I do. Hell, I can't even fucking say I love my girlfriend clearly without struggling!" He finished off, slightly huffing.

"Hey" Pidge said softly.

Keith turned to face her.

She cupped both sides of his face, placing her forehead against his. "Do you know what you just did?"

"I fucking yelled at my girlfriend just because she made a joke at her own expense?" he asked, trying to turn his face away.

"Well, yes. But no" she responded, keeping his face close to hers "you just went on a full rant. You never even stuttered once."

"Wait? Really?" Keith asked.

"Yep, and you know what that earns you?"

"Oh, please enlighten me." Keith gave a smug smiled.

"Smartass." Pidge laughed as she wrapped her arms around his neck before kissing him.

* * *

Almost two weeks passed from his return, with Keith having good days where he would not stutter once or even raise his voice, and bad days where he could barely get a sentence out, occasionally snapping when the others started pestering a little too much. But after a small talking to from Shiro, Pidge or his mom he ended up calming down and apologizing for his actions. All that was left was to actually get Keith to embrace his birthday party.

"What makes you think I can do that?!" Pidge asked aghast.

"Please" Lance laughed "You're the only one who actually has a shot a getting him to accept his birthday. Shiro and Matt failed years ago, I failed, Hunk couldn't get him to like anything more than cake, Allura- hey babe? Did you ever really try?"

"Well, sort of? You all asked me to ask him, he said no. I respected his wishes."

Lance just opened his mouth "That's seriously all you did?"

"Hey! You are the ones who asked me to do that, when I barely knew him I might add."

Lance nodded "Fair enough. But anyways, see what I mean Pidge? You're the only one who could even have a chance. Come on, it's happening in just a few days and we can't throw a party if he doesn't show up."

"I mean, his moms right here." Pidge spoke flatly as she gestured to the galra woman.

Krolia just waved her off, her focus aimed at a chess game with Shiro "His mother who abandoned him as a baby, you forgot that part."

"Fine, I'll try. But I want you as back-up Krolia."

"Did we not just discuss why that won't work?"

Shiro shook his head, not lifting his gaze from the board "I don't know, you two are the most important women in his life. If both of you are there, asking him together, he may just go along with it."

"Thank you, Takashi." Krolia said sarcastically "Fine, I'll be there with you Katie. Let's go now."

"What about your game?" Pidge asked.

"Oh, silly me" Krolia smiled as she moved one of her pieces "Check mate, Shirogane."

"Wait? What?" Shiro asked in surprise as he scanned the board over and over.

Krolia just smiled as she walked off waving Pidge along to her "Come along Katie, sooner we start this the sooner it's over."

The two women walked over to the neighboring house, all was quiet when they entered "Do you think it's unhealthy to let him sleep in so late? I mean it's already almost twi in the afternoon." The smaller girl questioned.

"The way I see it, let him rest as much as he needs. Sleep is a way for the brain to rest, and rejuvenate. The more his brain heals, the higher chance he has of recovering faster." The tall Galra woman explained.

Pidge just nodded "Oh, I see." She whispered as they entered into Keith's room, and once they did so they could see him curled up into a ball, shivering and lightly thrashing.

"No- no agh!" he whispered under his breath.

"Is he having a nightmare?"

"It appears so… step-back, he'll start flailing when we wake him up."

"Oh- um, okay." She said as she stepped behind the older woman.

"Keith… son, wake up." Krolia lightly shook him, trying to stir him slowly from his sleep. "Always has to be difficult, doesn't he?" she smiled turning her head to face Pidge."

Pidge just laughed "Believe me, I know."

"Well here goes nothing. Keith, wake up. It's just a dream." She spoke sternly as she gripped his shoulders.

"N-no!" Keith shouted as he swung his arms around. Luckily Krolia was able to pin his arms to the mattress before he could hit her. "Agh!" He growled struggling to break free.

"Keith! Calm down, you're awake! You're safe." The two spoke softly, consoling him until he finally started listening. Suddenly the wolf teleported in to see what all the commotion was, before he too started comforting his owner.

"Wai- what? What happened?" Keith asked in shock as he pressed himself up against the headboard on the bed.

Pidge sat down next to him, slowly moving her hand through his hair "It's okay, you were just having a bad dream."

Keith sat up huffing, catching his breath as he calmed down. "Oh- o-k-kay."

"You want to talk about it?" Krolia asked.

"N-n-no. It's f-fine, maybe l-later." He shook his head rapidly to get his bearings "What b-brings you two over here?"

"Weelllll" Pidge dragged out her voice, rubbing the back of her neck.

"What?" Keith raised his brow in curiosity.

"We wanted to talk to you about giving you a birthday party." The small girl finished.

"N-n-no."

"Hear us out."

"No way!" he tiredly voiced, throwing a pillow over his head again.

"Keith, you're going to listen to us whether you like it or not son!" Krolia commanded as she took the pillow away from him.

"D-d-dammit, fine. Go ahead." Her son pouted, crossing his arms as he sat back up.

Krolia rolled her eyes at her son before Pidge started up again. "As we were saying, we just want to discuss you actually having a birthday, party and all."

Keith avoided looking at the two "Fine, discuss away. But even you probably won't change my mind."

Krolia raised her brow and slightly squinted, why was her son so adamant about not celebrating his birthday?

"Keith, I know you don't like the idea. But please let us, as your friends and family, get to celebrate having you in our lives."

"We don't have to make a big deal about that. Let's just do what we've done for years. Cake, and you guys force me to take your hard-earned money." He responded.

"Oh my god, Keith-" Pidge groaned before she was cut off.

"Katie, can you give me a moment with my son?" Krolia asked, glaring at the boy in question.

"Um, yeah sure… should I just go back over to my house or just in herrreee?"

Krolia and Keith were currently in an intense staring contest at the moment "Just outside the room will be fine. This hopefully won't take long."

Pidge nervously walked out closing the door behind her, and when Krolia heard the door click shut, she finally began. "What the hell is wrong with you?"

Keith was in shock, as far as he could remember not once had she cussed at him. But he quickly regained his composure and restarted the glaring "What are you talking about?"

"Dammit Keith, these people are your family, SHE is your family, and you're not letting them show they care about you. So, I ask again, what the hell is wrong with you?" she wasn't backing down from her son shooting daggers with his eyes. In fact, it almost seems as though she wanted him to challenge.

"I just don't want a birthday! How is that such a bad thing?!"

"Why don't you want one? Why do you not want this?"

"Because I don't like my birthday, okay?"

"Don't bullshit me son! There's more to it and until you tell me I'm not leaving." The two continued yelling back and forth at each other until there was a breaking point.

"Because, that's when dad died! Okay?! He died on my birthday, he got called out for a fire, and he never came home! Are you fucking happy? I finally said my big secret!" Keith shouted at the top of his lungs "That's why I hate my birthday, it reminds me of him! Of when I lost him…"

Now it was Krolias turn to reel back from shock, she was surprised she never thought of that. She always knew an estimated time for when Keith's dad passed, but she never knew it was that specific day. "Oh…"

Pidge wanted to go back inside, her hand was on the doorknob, just waiting to be turned. But something compelled her to wait for the mother and son to go through this on their own.

Krolia walked up and just lightly embraced her son, who was now sobbing. "I'm sorry Keith, but you can't let that stop you from having a good time. I miss your father, but I know he wouldn't want you acting like this."

"I know" he responded "but that doesn't just change how I feel. He and I, we were having a great time. Then- then he left." Keith pulled himself back so he could look his mom in the eyes "That's why I want to skip that day, I hate it. I know I shouldn't, I know he wouldn't want me too, I know it's being selfish to my friends who just want to take care of me… but how can I do that? If I forgot the pain of that day, doesn't that mean I may forget him?"

Krolia herself could now feel small streams leave her eyes, "Keith, we could never forget your dad!" she hugged her son once more. "I haven't seen him in nineteen years, and I still think about him on a daily basis. Just because you want to enjoy yourself on your birthday, doesn't mean you'll lose your memory of your father."

"Are you sure?" he asked.

"I promise, now please… Please at least try and let your friends celebrate with you, if you don't feel it. Then next year we'll try something else. Okay?"

"Okay, I'll- I'll try and enjoy my birthday. But please tell me it's nothing big?" he pleaded.

Krolia smiled at her son as she ruffled his hair lightly "I don't know what all they have planned. But I am reasonably sure it's nothing terrible."

Keith smirked back at her "Good."

"Katie, come on in."

Pidge walked in shyly, having heard almost everything said up until the end, she was eager to know how the conversation ended. "So, um- what's the verdict?"

"I'll- I'll give the whole birthday thing a shot." Keith smiled.

That answer earned him a hug from Pidge "Thank you." She quietly said in his ear.

"You're welcome." He whispered back.

"So shall we all go back over to the other house?" Krolia suggested.

Keith's eyes grew wide "Um, yeah. I'll meet you two over there."

"Wwwhhhyyyyy?" Pidge asked in curiosity, as she slowly shifted her position on him.

Keith whispered in her ear "Uh, I'm just in a shirt and boxers right now. And you are in a very difficult spot right now…"

Pidge quickly jumped off him with a nervous smile on her very red face "Okay, see you over there!" she shouted as she quickly sped off, Krolia confusingly following after her.

* * *

"So? What's the word pigeon-bird?" Matt asked his little sister as the two women reentered the house.

Pidge was still a little flustered, but she settled herself down enough to speak. "Well, thankfully he agreed to give the whole birthday thing a shot."

"That's great! Any idea what changed his mind?" Shiro asked.

"That was all Krolia, she's the one who got him to agree."

The Galra woman shook her head lightly "It was… challenging. Surprisingly, he had a good reason to ask us all to not do this. But that is for him to release at his own time, not me. I'm sure Katie would agree, as I'm sure you heard, correct?" she asked turning to the smaller girl.

Pidge just nodded "Yeah, I heard, and you're right. It's his choice on when to say that, if he does. But anyways, let's just be happy we have this opportunity to give him a birthday without him complaining. So let's try and make it amazing, yeah?"

All her friends smiled at her enthusiasm and agreed whole-heartedly with her, eventually Keith walked over, and they all spent time together as a group


	8. Chapter 8

Lance started honking the horn on his car repeatedly "Hunk, Allura, vaminos! We need to hurry! We promised Krolia and Pidge we'd have the cakes and our bodies there before the party starts!" the Cuban boy shouted out of his window.

"Lance, please calm down. We need to go meet with Lotor so he and his friends can follow us to the house." Allura stated calmly as she and Hunk approached the car, carrying Keith's gifts and cakes in both of their hands.

"Seriously man, like I know you like to party, and I know you care for Keith. But just chill." Hunk laughed slightly.

"Fine, fine, but like Allura said we need to meet with Lotor. That takes time we are sorely lacking."

* * *

"Um… guys?" Lance began, staring at a girl that was in Lotor's vehicle.

"Yes Lance?" Hunk asked, not taking his eyes off of the same girl.

"Is it just me- or does she look remarkably like Keith and Krolia?"

"I think it is fair to say, that is the case. I never put that thought into my head even when I first met Keith" Allura said matter of factly "Neither of you bring it up. Not. A. Word. This group cannot take anymore drama at the moment."

"Fair enough." Lance nodded as they all turned to face Lotor and his group again, putting on stressed smiles before waving awkwardly.

Lotor was confused but smiled and waved back none-the-less.

"They're weird." An orange tinted girl blurted out smiling "Did they make 'Lura just as weird? It looks like they did." She asked excitedly.

Another girl, the same one the three others were staring at, rolled her eyes playfully "Be nice Ezor, don't make me have Zethrid knock some sense into you… again."

"Oh shove it Axca. First off, Zethrid loves me, right Zeth?"

In return she got a small grunt and a smile from the more muscular girl.

"Second they were staring at you, any guess why?"

Axca just shrugged "Meh, don't care. So are we going or not Lotor?"

"Patience Acxa, we have to follow them." Lotor raised his hand up, moving his hand in a spinning motion as if to say 'Ready to go?'.

Lance nodded in response and they all drove off together "See? On our way now." Lotor smiled at his friend, as they followed suit.

* * *

"Where are those idiots?" Pidge growled through her gritted teeth "This literally has to be the perfect birthday. This is our one chance for Keith to embrace it… And those nitwits are taking thEIR SWEET ASS TIME WITH THE CAKE!" she shouted.

"Calm down Katie." Colleen spoke softly as she tried calming her daughter. "Those thre- er, well Hunk and Allura have never let you down before. So don't think they will today, they know just how important this is to you for Keith."

"I know, but I really want this to be perfect for him. You know?"

"We know sis, but chill. Everything is going to be fine." Matt chimed in as he ruffled his little sisters hair.

"I will hurt you if you do that again, but thank you for the reassurance guys." The girl huffed before calming herself "But seriously, where are they? Krolia and Shiro can't distract Keith forever. It's definitely not a surprise party, but I don't want him coming here until everything is just right."

"Like I said, just chill. I'll call Lance and see where they are at. Sound good?"

Pidge just groaned, nodding her head as she walked to the common area to work off the antsy feeling she had.

Matt did as he said he would and pulled out his phone, calling his younger Cuban friend.

"Hey Matt."

"Where are you guys? Katie is about to flip shit unless you guys get here like- ten minutes ago!"

"Yeah, I know. We just met up with Lotor a few minutes ago. We're driving now and should be there soon. Just keep Pidge relaxed and make sure she doesn't strangle us when we get there."

"I'll try, but no promises. She keeps saying 'This needs to go perfect.' and 'We need this to be absolutely amazing.' Seriously, if she doesn't calm down she's going to have a heart attack."

"Like I said, we'll be there soon. Just reassure her for us."

"Got it."

As Matt hung up the phone, he walked into the common area to join his sister. "Well?" She asked once she noticed him.

"They're almost here. They just met up with Lotor and his friends and are on their way." The older Holt smiled as he placed his hand reassuringly on his sisters head. "So there you have it, every thing is fine now Pigeon."

Pidge let out a sigh of relief "Good, thank you Matt." She smiled back before she pulled out her phone from her pocket "Now I can go ahead and text Krolia to let her know to bring Keith and Shiro over."

"You have your boyfriends moms number? And you text her?"

"Matt, the woman lives with us. Why wouldn't I have her number? Second, what's weird about me texting my boyfriends mom?"

Matt just looked at her like she said a joke "You're joking right? It's just strange, at least from a guys point of view."

"Well, you're an idiot, so it doesn't matter. Besides it's really no big deal, it's not like she and I are going out for lunch and be 'besties'." Pidge laughed as she stressed that last part.

* * *

"Alright, are you two ready to head next door? I just got a message from Katie that it's close enough in time to arrive."

"Yeah, you ready Keith?" Shiro asked as Keith rounded the corner.

"Actually, yeah." He smiled, Keith was wearing clothes very out of character for himself. It was a very nice black, short-sleeved button up shirt, light blue-grey jeans, and white sneakers, with his hair tied up in a pony-tail once more. Very different than his normal black t-shirt, read and white leather jacket, and combat boots with his hair shaggy and down. To the other two in the room, it was clear the new look was also a physical compliment to his new upbeat outlook on this day. And to be honest, they liked it, smiling at their son.

"I'm glad you came around, son." Krolia smirked.

"And I'm proud of the man you've become." Shiro smiled.

"Thank you, guys." Keith smiled sheepishly, before the three of them headed to the next house over. With them arriving just in time to see two cars pull up.

"I take it that other vehicle is Lotor?" Keith questioned, as he saw a man talking to several girls in the car with him.

Krolia nodded "Yes, he did say there was a chance he'd bring his friends along as well. So I guess everything worked out in that regard."

"Well, can't wait to meet him. I do owe him one." Keith said as he walked into the house, giving Pidge a hug.

Pidge reached up to give him a kiss, then she looked her boyfriend up and down "You look good." She smiled.

"Thanks Pidge, I feel good too! Something was just right when I woke up today. It's hard to explain, but I just- you know _feel_ it today."

Pidge was beyond happy to hear him say that "Good, so let's make sure that feeling is justified and have some fun today."

"As you wish." He smirked.

* * *

"Who's the cutie?" Ezor asked, looking up and down at Keith as he, Shiro, and Krolia walked onto the porch.

"That, is Keith. The man who I was asked to help and whose birthday is today, and whose _girlfriend_ invited us." Lotor not so subtly spoke.

"So you're saying 'don't flirt with him and try to hook-up with him.'?" Ezor asked.

Lotor just sighed, "Yes. That is exactly what I am saying."

"Fiiinnneee." Ezor dragged out "But tell that to Acxa too, she is hard-core staring at him right now."

Lotor raised a brow and turned to see that what Ezor said was true, and Acxa was indeed looking intensely at Keith and Krolia. "I'm not checking him out, he just… looks familiar."

Zethrid and Ezor then too started looking more closely at him before he and the other two walked inside the house. "Yeah, I can't place it, but he does look like someone we know." Zethrid thought aloud.

"Oh well, can't be helped! If I can't flirt with the cutie, I'm at least going to put myself out there and talk with him in case he needs a rebound in the future."

Lotor and Acxa just stared at their outgoing friend, both rolling their eyes. "You seriously have no shame, do you?" the former asked.

"Nope! Let's go have fun." She laughed as they exited the car. Meeting with Allura, Lance and Hunk.

"'Lura!" Ezor shouted as she hugged her old friend in excitement.

"Ezor!" Allura smiled "It's good to see you old friend, my you've gotten more beautiful in these long years. Haven't you?" Allur looked back at Lance and Hunk, letting them know to go ahead and go inside for now.

"Me? How about you?! Curves in all the right places, perfectly tanned skin, tall but not so much to dissuade boys. You've straight up gotten sexy in these past years!" Ezor complimented her, as she started sizing her old friend up.

Allura blushed "I see your just as flirtatious as ever, huh? Did you ever make that decision between boys or girls you had growing up?"

"That? Oh yeah, I decided why not both? More fun that way, besides more options means more chances to find that right person."

Acxa stepped up "That's enough Ezor, no need to talk about all that now. We have all day to catch up, and hopefully many more days after that. Right, Allura?"

"Of course, Acxa. I would like to catch up with you all later. But allow me to introduce you to everyone inside. And it's good to see you too, Zethrid."

"Back at ya, girly." Zethrid smiled as they all followed Allura inside, with Acxa waiting back to enter with Lotor.

* * *

"Ezor, Zethrid, Acxa, as Lotor already knows them please allow me to introduce you to my friends. First we have my boyfriend here Lance,"

"Hola!" the Cuban boy greeted.

"The best way I can describe him is as your male counterpart Ezor." Allura laughed lightly "Next we have one of the sweetest men in the world, Hunk! He is an excellent cook and an even better friend."

"Nice to meet you all." The big man smiled.

"Here we have Ma-"

"Hi, I'm Matt." The boy smoothly spoke as he took Ezors hand in his to give it a kiss.

"Yes, Matt is a very intelligent man and also quite the flirt too." Allura finished. "Here is possibly the smartest girl in the world, and Matt's little sister, Katie or Pidge as we call her. Next to her is the man of the hour and her boyfriend Keith."

"Hi." Pidge smiled as she waved at the three others, though just like her friends she spent a good time looking at Acxa in a confused manner.

"Nice to meet you, thank you for coming."

The girls just nodded as Lotor made his way past them to meet Keith properly. "Greetings, I am Lotor Sincline."

"Geez, does he have any other introduction?" Ezor whispered to no one in particular, causing everyone who heard her to let out a small chuckle.

"Hi, I owe you a ton for helping bring me back to Pidge and the others."

"The pleasure was mine, I enjoyed the challenge to my skills. Besides, I'm quite fond of saving people when I'm needed." He gave a cocky smirk before offering his hand out.

Keith accepted the man's hand "Well, are you just a brain or do you have more skills?"

"I have a few, why do you ask?"

"Oh please no" Allura and Pidge groaned.

"You any good when it comes to a fight?" Keith smirked.

"I know a couple styles, you interested in a challenge?" Lotor returned the expression, it was evident to everyone else in the house that the two men were increasingly tightening their grips on the others arm.

"If you're up for it."

"Yeah, I'm going to have to say no. At least not until you have made a full recovery." Pidge commanded as she stepped between the two men.

"Fine, raincheck?" Keith asked, giving the man one last smile.

"Yes, I'd hate for it to not be a fair fight. Besides, from what I gathered while working with Katie to bring you back, she is not one I want to anger or disobey." Lotor laughed.

"So you're more than just book smart." Keith joined him in laughter.

Pidge just let out a small sigh and smile, glad she stopped the two from having a friendly fight.

"I'm just going to say that I called it that they would hit it off." Matt chuckled.

"So, since we agreed there will be no fighting, how about we give the birthday boy his cake and presents and have fun?" Pidge asked as they all walked into the dining room where Keiths cakes and gifts were.

"I must apologize as we neglected to bring any proper gifts." Lotor brought up as Pidge pushed Keiths chair into the table and stood behind him.

"It's fine" the couple spoke at once.

"Seriously, you guys just met me, there's no reasonable way for you all to have gotten a gift for a total stranger. Besides, this is more of an experiment to see if I'll even let them give me anymore birthday parties in the future. So it's really not a problem."

"Alright, if you say so."

Pidge clasped her hands together "Now shall we begin?"

With that, Hunk brought the multiple cakes to the table. First, a small cupcake with a single candle and the number '18' written in incing, next a slightly bigger cake with nineteen individual candles in a circle, and finally a much bigger- more properly sized- birthday cake with 'Happy 18th and 20th birthdays' with the candles being the big number kind on the same side they were written in icing.

"Wow, uh that's a lot of cake, hehe. Thanks Hunk!" Keith smiled.

"Thank Lance, it was his idea to celebrate the ones you missed as well as the ones we're celebrating."

"Wow, um- thanks Lance."

Lance just smiled and gave a thumbs up to his friend, before Pidge and the others began singing 'Happy Birthday to You!'.

Once they had all finished the song, Keith began blowing out the _many_ candles in front of him. Just barely able to get them all out before his breath disappeared completely.

Everyone did the customary cheer, even the complete strangers joined in, and soon the slices of cake had been shared among everyone.

"This cake is amazing!" Ezor shouted, the girl trying to finish it all.

"Ezor, manners now, you know better than to talk with your mouth full." Lotor smiled as he sipped his drink.

"Yeah, yeah, sorry. But this cake tastes so good! You, you're Hunk right?"

The large boy smiled "Yeah, and thank you for the compliments, I love it when others like my food." He smiled.

"I love it, you're definitely going to be the one I go to for cake from now on."

After everyone had eaten their fair share of cake, it was time for everyone to give their gifts to Keith.

"I decided to give the others a fighting chance and give my gift last. Ya happy, Lance?" she sarcastically shouted at the lanky boy.

"Actually, yes. Thank you Pidge, for the opportunity to not immediately have our gifts over-shadowed." Lance said as he too had a sarcastic tone in his voice, he went ahead and gave his gift first.

He wasn't really expecting his gift to win the 'competition', at this point it was more him enjoying the joke of it. But his gift was actually multiple in the one bag, which was many practical clothes in Keith's taste, and a vintage CD of Keith's favorite old school band from the early twenty-tens, along with a collar for the dog with the name 'Cosmo' engraved in it.

"Thanks Lance." Keith smiled, he appreciated the fact it wasn't an extravagant gift, but some practical and small stuff. "But we're not naming my wolf Cosmo."

"You sure about that mullet?" Lance smiled "Come here boy!" he shouted at the top of his lungs, just then the wolf teleported from his dog house in the backyard of the 'gane' household.

The dog looked up calmly at the skinny Cuban boy that called him over. "What do you say boy? You wanna be called Cosmo?"

The dog began jumping around and barking excitedly, until Lance put the collar on him. "So that's decided." Everyone laughed at that, so Keith conceded and agreed to name the dog cosmo.

Next up was Hunk, whose gift was equally small in scale. A small cook-book titled 'You can cook too! By Hunk Garrett' it was more of a joke, but it was something Hunk actually put effort into for his friend. And at the back of the book was five coupons for Keith to cash in. The coupons were in the event Keith actually wanted to make something, but was still struggling with making it, Hunk would teach him how.

"I can already tell these will come in handy, Hunk. Thanks, big man."

Now was Allura's turn, which was the smallest but the most genuine of the gifts so far. Her gift was a picture frame, and in the frame was the first photograph the group had ever taken together. They were all so young at the time, the picture was very much a blast from the past.

"We've all come a long way from that time, huh? I can't believe you still had this old picture, but thank you Allura. It means a lot."

Afterwards Matt and Colleen presented their gifts to Keith, the latter of whom was similar to Allura's but was exclusively Keith and Shiro with the Holts, taken right after Shiro finished the adoption process for Keith. The formers gift was a hundred dollars and a card saying 'I've gotten used to just giving you money with no emotion, happy birthday! -Love, your future brother-in-law.'

Everyone just sighed and facepalmed, but Keith loved it and actually found it hilarious.

Shiro and Krolia explained that they split the costs on a certain gift with Kolivan, but it wasn't ready yet, so they'd have to wait a little longer. Keith noticed his mother had been acting really tense. But he just pushed the idea to the side and wanted to wait to ask her.

Finally was Pidges turn to give her gift, but to get the full effect Keith would have to change into something and meet everyone outside. "Go put this on, then meet us out back." She said as she handed him a skin-tight suit, then her and the others left through the backdoor.

After a few moments, Keith came out. And Pidge and Ezor couldn't help but ogle at his athletic body. Keith was embarrassed but played along and approached his girlfriend "Okay, now what?"

"Turn around." She said, and after he did so she placed something at the base of his neck. Keith started to catch on, but waited for more instruction still. "Alright, now you remember my armor design? Think of that."

"Got it." Keith smiled, used to this part, and as he did so some white and red armor began to grow around his body. "Gotta love nanotech." He smiled.

"How's it feel?"

"Really good, lightweight and maneuverable."

"Good now for the two final touches…" she said as she placed the complimenting helmet on his head, tapping the side to activate the HUD on the lenses. "I'm sure you know how to work your heads-up display. So I won't bother with that part, I'll just let you play with it and figure stuff out. Finally, here you go." She said as she handed a small black object to him, all the others recognized what it was, but Keith had yet to actually see one so he didn't know.

"What's this?"

"Think of any weapon."

"Any?"

"Any."

"Hmm, okay…" he thought for a second before deciding on a sword, and suddenly the object turned into a sword right in front of his eyes. "Whoa! Haha!" he laughed in excitement.

"Alright now try something a little less predictable than a sword." She smiled at his enthusiasm.

"Okay… how about a cannon?" and instantly Keiths sword turned into a giant cannon, the sudden weight making him drop it to the ground before heaving it over his shoulder "This is amazing! How'd you do it Pidge?"

"While we were waiting for Lotor to help get you out I made this at the Blades HQ for you to match mine. Just like with your HUD, I'm going to let you figure that out along with… oh yeah! I can't believe I forgot. Rover!" Pidge shouted before a small floating robot came outside from an open window leading to the garage.

The small robot let out different toned beeps until Pidge gave it some new commands "Rover: Go activate Project GoLion!" after the command registered rover then flew back into garage.

"Pidge, what's Project GoLion?" Keith asked.

"Just a sec, wait and see." She smiled excitedly as many loud crashes could be heard from inside the garage. After another moment Rover flew out with five other small robots following after him. These robots were actually five individually colored lions. Black, Red, Green, Blue, and Yellow. "I know it's your birthday, but project GoLion was something I came up with for all of us, each Lion has its own individual personality built into it's A.I. but I programmed some required stuff into them. Lions: go ahead and go to your paladins!"

With a few seconds passed, all the Lions made their choice. Except Red, the Red Lion couldn't seem to make up it's mind as it started following th Black Lion towards Keith. "Hey! Why does Keith get two robot lions and I get none?" Lance complained.

"Sorry, like I said they all have a personality of their own. In all honesty I was expecting you to get Blue over there." Pidge spoke as she turned to look at Allura who was interacting with the robot in question.

"Or maybe I'm just that likeable?" Keith laughed as he messed with both of the robots in front of him "I have to say I feel a bond with both of you two, but Red? Mind going over to Lance for me?"

The red bot in question, ran around Keith for a second, almost like it was saying goodbye before it bonded with Lance.

"This is amazing Pidge! And Keith? Thanks man."

"No problem Lance. And obviously it's amazing the smartest and most beautiful girl in the world made them." Keith smiled as he nuzzled his forehead against the much smaller girl.

Pidge reciprocated, having fun with her boyfriend "My plans aren't over yet, I have so many more ideas for these little guys."

"You never stop. Do you?"

"Nope!" She giggled with excitement.

"Oooohhhh! You two are so adorable together!" Ezor squeaked out.

The couple in question just awkwardly stood there, accepting the compliment.

"So, last item on the agenda. Swim time!" Lance shouted "Do you all happen to have bathing suits?"

"No, we did not think to brink any." Replied Lotor.

"Well we all have plenty extra between the two houses. You're more than welcome to join us."

"Ladies?"

Zethrid shook her head "You all can swim, I'll just stay nice and dry watch.

"I'm going swimming!" Ezor followed after Lance, Matt, Allura, and Hunk.

Acxa let out a sigh "May as well." She said throwing her hands up.

"Alright, Keith? Katie? Will you be joining us? This is pretty much your day." Lotor inquired.

"Yeah, you coming Pidge?"

"Be right over, see you soon." Pidge smiled as she kissed his cheek. "Oh, and Krolia? Would you mind staying over here?"

"Um, yes. Okay." The woman agreed as she stayed behind with the amber-eyed girl.

* * *

"So Katie, what can I help you with?"

"I was actually about to ask you that." Pidge answered.

"What do you-?"

"You've been crazy tense ever since Lotor and his friends showed up… does this have something to do with that Acxa girl? Why does she look like you and Keith?"

"I can't guarantee anything. I'll have to look into it. Thankfully it hasn't seemed to dawn on Keith that she resembles us, for how smart he can be, he's pretty dense." Krolia laughed.

"No truer words." Pidge smiled. "Okay, I better change into my bathing suit and get over there. Will you be coming too?"

"No, better get to work now. If Keith asks, just tell him I turned in early okay? No need in having him stress, especially if this turns out to be nothing."

"Okay." The girl said as she started going up the stairs.

"And Katie?"

Pidge stopped, turning around to face the woman. "Yeah?"

"Thank you."

Pidge just smiled and nodded.

* * *

After Pidge changed and made her way next door she saw all of her friends talking and having fun with each other. With her boyfriend currently dunking Lance under the water along with her brother, slight music being heard in the background.

"Hey, stay safe you three!" Shiro shouted from a distance.

Pidge smiled and laughed, sliding into the water to join them.

After Keith noticed her, he let Matt handle Lance alone, meeting his girlfriend halfway.

"Hey emo." She smiled.

"Hello dear." he laughed. "Mom not coming over here?" He asked looking over her to try and see over the fence.

"No, she said she was going to get an early go at sleep."

"Oh, okay."

Pidge wrapped her arms around Keiths chest "So, can I ask what you thought about today? Think we can do this again next year?"

"I say… the chances are high." He smiled down at her.

"Good enough for now." She replied as the two started swaying in the pool, practically dancing in place.

 _Really high chances, as long as you love me._ He smiled.

 **A/N: Oh. My. Goodness… I have no clue if I can ever do something like this again. I have been working on this for eight months or so. The final tally at 107 pages, and approximately 5900 words (minus authors notes) and honestly, I kinda don't want to stop. I feel like I could keep this going forever. But I have other stories I need to do as well. I have another new Voltron story in the works, something slightly darker, and more story focused (similar to "I'm Here For You" is more story focused.) as well as a possible continuation to "I'm Here For You".**

 **But yeah, that's it for now. And as of this moment, I'm going to break this up into multiple chapters and just upload within 30 minutes of each other. I'd hate for you all to have to sit through 100+ pages to read this at once, at least if I break it up, you can read it at your own pace.**

 **Anyhow, I really hope you guys loved this as much as I did writing it. I honestly don't know if it's possible for that because I love this story so much I just couldn't stop myself from writing, haha. I literally had to force myself to just** ** _STOP_** **. But once again, please let me know what you think of this story so far.** **Adiós!**


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